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RIVERS AND THEIR MYSTERIES 



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Photo by Underwood & Underwood 

RIVER LIFE IN THE FAR EAST 
A scene on a canal near Bangkok in Siam. 



" RIVERS 
AND THEIR MYSTERIES 



BY 

A. HYATT VERRILL 

ii 

Author of 

"The Ocean and its Mysteries*' 
"Islands and Their Mysteries" 



ILLUSTRATED 




NEW YORK 

DUFFIELD AND COMPANY 

1922 






Copyright, 1922, by 
DUFFIELD AND COMPANY / 



•0 



Printed in the United States of America 



MAR -3 1922 v 



g)CI.A654821 t 



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CONTENTS 



CHAPTER PAGE 

Introduction ix 

I. The Romance of Rivers .... i 

Rivers in mythology and story. Rivers of history. How 
man first used rivers. How rivers aided mankind. Set- 
tlements on rivers. Famous river towns. 

II. How Rivers are Formed . . . . 16 

Sources of rivers. How rivers affect a country's char- 
acter. Riverless countries. Why some lands are river- 
less and others not. Mountain rivers and plains rivers. 
Rapids and cataracts. Effect of strata on rivers. How 
rivers cut rock. How river islands are formed. Why 
rivers curve. How rivers make land. How rivers 
change their courses. How changes in land affect rivers. 
How rivers enrich land. 

III. River Mouths and Deltas ... 48 

How rivers form bars. Mouths of large and small 
rivers. How rivers affect the ocean and its shores. 
Swamps, marshes and mud flats. Estuaries and lagoons. 
How deltas are formed. Different kinds of deltas. Ef- 
fect of changes on deltas. Effect of man's handiwork 
on deltas. 

IV. River Life 62 

Species peculiar to rivers. Distribution of plant and 
animal life by rivers. Life on driftwood in a river. 
Life of the river bed. Life of the water. Life in rocky 
rivers. Life in sandy rivers. Different forms of life 
and vegetation at different parts of rivers. Life near 
the mouths of rivers. Ocean life in river mouths. Ef- 
fect of rivers on marine life. River birds. 



CONTENTS 

CHAPTER PAGE 

V. How Rivers Serve Man . . . . 80 

How man has altered rivers. Rivers as highways. River 
boats. How man has harnessed rivers. The first mills. 
Dams. Effect of dams on rivers. Logging, Power in 
cataracts. Rivers used for irrigation. Primitive irri- 
gation. Irrigating deserts. Wealth in rivers. Placers. 
How rivers' wealth is recovered. How rivers aid pros- 
pectors. 



VI. Some Unusual Rivers .... 103 

Salt rivers. Tidal rivers. Mineral streams. Volcanic 
streams. Hot rivers. Rivers that have no outlet. Mys- 
terious rivers. Underground rivers. A land where all 
rivers flow under the earth. Strange forms of life in 
underground rivers. Sink holes and caves. Glacial 
rivers. 



VII. Artificial Rivers 125 

Man made rivers. Why man has made artificial rivers. 
Canals. Aqueducts. Sewers. Countries where canals 
are essential. Locks and how they operate. Tide water 
canals. How boats navigate canals. Famous canals. 
The Panama Canal. 



VIII. A Journey Down a Northern 

River 137 

Near the head of the river. Life in the mountain stream. 
Rapids and falls. Following down the stream. Vege- 
tation along the banks. The sandstone ravine. Meadows. 
An old mill. Following the river through the valley. 
Changes in life along the river. A lake on the river. 
A portage. The limestone and the story it tells. An 
ancient lake bed. The first town on the river. Mills 
and boats. Cities, railways and bridges. Tidewater. 
Salt marshes. The river port. The end of the trip. 



CONTENTS 

CHAPTER PAGE 

IX. A Journey Up a Tropical River . 156 

Approaching the river from the sea. The river's 
mouth. Low shores. Islands in the river's mouth. 
Starting up the river. Birds along the shores. River 
boats. Mangrove swamps. Houses and clearings. Rocky 
islets and shores. The tide. At the limit of navigation. 
Strange birds and plants. Trees on stilts. Floods. Camp 
on an island. Life on the island. The first cataracts. 
Hauling through the falls. Vegetation on the ledges. 
Life on the rocks. In the heart of the jungle. Whirl- 
pools. Shooting fish. Portaging. Dykes and falls. Gold 
and diamonds. The conglomerate. Discoveries. River 
reptiles. In the mountains. The canon. The giant 
waterfall. On the high tableland. Savannas. Tracing 
the river to its source. The river's source in the clouds. 



X. Important and Famous Rivers . . 194 

Comparative sizes of great rivers. Why great rivers 
have become famous. Some facts about the Amazon. 
The Mississippi. China's rivers of floating homes. 
India's sacred rivers. Rivers of Africa. Famous rivers 
of Europe. River worship. 



ILLUSTRATIONS 

River Life in the Far East . Frontispiece 

A scene on a canal near Bangkok in Siam. 

FACING PAGE 

A Modern Power Dam 86 

The Elephant Butte Dam on the upper Rio Grande 
in New Mexico. This shows the transformation of 
hills into islands by the flooding of the country above 
the dam. 

A River Flood in Flat Country . . . 24 

This photograph of the Colorado River overflowing 
this country near Pueblo, in July, 1921, shows horse- 
shoe bends, the formation of new channels, the cutting 
of banks, the formation of islands, etc. 

A Bend in a River 54 

This picture taken on the Pucro River in Panama, 
shows the gradual cutting away of a sandy bank 
by the stream and the formation of a bar on the 
opposite side. 

A River of Ice no 

The famous Mer de Glace in Switzerland. 

Rapids on a Northern River .... 140 

These rapids were caused by dykes of hard rock in the 
bed of the stream. 



ILLUSTRATIONS 

FACING PAGE 

A Gorge Cut Through the Hills by a 

Tropical River 160 

The valley of the Kaieteur River in British Guiana. 
This photograph was taken from below the Falls 
shown in the illustration opposite page 190. 

A Waterfall in the Tropics .... 190 

This shows the stream above and below the Kaieteur 
Falls in British Guiana (Height, 822 feet). This is 
the highest cataract in the world. The cavern under 
the falls was formed by erosion. 



INTRODUCTION 

RlVERS are of interest to nearly everyone. 
They are fascinating, beautiful, majestic and 
mysterious features of the landscape and peo- 
ple in all walks of life, under all sorts of con- 
ditions and from many points of view obtain 
pleasure or profit from them. The traveler, 
speeding over the water on a great palatial 
steamer; the canoeist, paddling silently in the 
shade of the overhanging trees on a quiet 
backwater; the bathers, disporting themselves 
in the deep, cool pools; the angler, fishing 
from the bank, all love the river. And where, 
in all the world, is a more perfect and enjoy- 
able spot for a picnic or a summer's holiday 
than the grassy banks, the grateful shade, the 
flower-spangled fields and the softly lapping 
waters of a riverside? In winter, when the 
river's surface is ice bound, when the banks 
are white with snow and the naked branches 
of the trees bend under their load of sleet, 
the river is still a most attractive spot as we 

ix 



INTRODUCTION 

skim swiftly over its icy covering on flashing 
skates or flying ice-boat. Even those poor un- 
fortunate mortals who have no imagination 
and no romance in their makeup, who can see 
nothing attractive in nature unless it means 
dollars and cents in their pockets, look upon 
rivers with admiration and approval, for they 
represent wealth and profit To such, the 
stream means busy mills and factories, cheap 
transportation, rich lands and bumper crops, 
log drives and fisheries, perhaps even riches 
to be won from the hidden hoard of gold with- 
in the river's bed, or maybe, the harvest of ice 
in winter. But whatever the reason, — 
whether seen through the rosy glasses of lovers 
drifting aimlessly as they gather water lilies 
and whisper soft nothings, whether viewed 
with the cold, calculating, matter-of-fact eyes 
of the practical business man or whether 
looked upon with the superstitious imagina- 
tion of the savage, rivers are ever interesting 
and important things and have been so through 
countless ages, as they will continue to be 
through countless ages yet to come. 

Nevertheless, most people know really very 



INTRODUCTION 

little about rivers. They may have learned 
something about them in their geographies at 
school. They may know the rivers or the 
portions of the rivers about their homes or in 
their neighborhood, but they seldom realize 
how really interesting rivers are; how varied 
is the life within their waters, how important 
they are to the human race or why they are 
as they are. 

It is to point out some of these matters, to 
explain the facts which to many are mysteries, 
to describe some of the more interesting fea- 
tures of rivers and to create an even greater 
and more widespread interest in them that 
this book has been written. 

No attempt has been made to prepare a 
scientific treatise on rivers, no long and dry 
discussions of geological formations, meteoro- 
logical conditions, or of botanical or zoologi- 
cal theories or technicalities have been includ- 
ed. Instead, the author has endeavored to de- 
scribe in a clear, concise and easily understood 
manner how rivers are formed, why they flow, 
how they affect the land, the climate, the veg- 
etation, the animal life and mankind; how 

xi 



INTRODUCTION 

they form deltas and why; how they 
influence the ocean's shores and how the 
oceans influence them; the changes made in 
rivers by man and by other causes and why 
they are such fascinating things. In order to 
make the descriptions and explanations more 
realistic and to convey a more vivid idea to 
the reader, chapters have been prepared de- 
scribing journeys on imaginary rivers, — one 
in the north, the other in the tropics — and 
while streams described in this way are ficti- 
tious and are in reality composites of many 
rivers, yet the conditions, the scenery, the life, 
the fauna and flora and the geology are all 
such as actually occur and are accurately de- 
scribed. Although, at times, in order to 
explain some feature of a river or to make a 
description clear, it has been necessary to di- 
gress and to discuss other matters than rivers, 
yet this has been avoided as far as possible. 

In preparing any book on natural features 
of our globe it is at times difficult to confine 
oneself to the subject in hand, for everything 
is related and has a bearing upon something 
else. Thus, rivers have a direct bearing on 

xii 



INTRODUCTION 

the ocean, the oceans upon rivers, the land 
upon both and both upon the land, while all 
have a bearing upon and a direct relation to 
climate, fauna and flora, winds and tides, and 
a score of other matters, and to cover the sub- 
ject of rivers completely, to go into the most 
involved and scientific reasons for this, that 
and the other regarding them, would require 
volumes. It is the same way with individual 
rivers. A book much larger than the present 
volume might easily be written on the Ama- 
zon, another on the Orinoco, another on the 
Mississippi and so on with every great and 
important river. Therefore, in this book, the 
author treats of generalities and while a chap- 
ter has been devoted to certain facts and 
figures and interesting features of some of the 
most noteworthy rivers of the world, yet no 
attempt has been made to describe all the fea- 
tures of these streams in detail. 

The author, who has spent much time voy- 
aging upon rivers in the more unfrequented 
parts of the world and on scientific expedi- 
tions has travelled thousands of miles upon the 
great rivers of South America and has ex- 

xiii 



INTRODUCTION 

plored and traced the headwaters of many 
hitherto unknown, has always found rivers ro- 
mantic and fascinating and he believes that 
many people will welcome a book of the scope 
of the present volume. 

As many of the most important factors bear- 
ing upon rivers have already been described 
and treated in the author's two previous books 
of this series, — "The Ocean and Its Mysteries" 
and "Islands and Their Mysteries," — only 
casual mention of such facts have been made 
and the reader will find the two other books 
useful and interesting in connection with the 
present work. 



xiv 



RIVERS AND THEIR 
MYSTERIES 



RIVERS AND THEIR 
MYSTERIES 

Chapter I 

THE ROMANCE OF RIVERS 

JUST as the vast ocean awes one with its 
majesty and resistless power; just as some un- 
trod isle, rising upon the rim of the sea, lures 
one with its mystery and charm, so a river, 
flowing silently, steadily, ceaselessly, thrills 
the beholder with its romance. Whence does 
it come, we wonder; through what strange 
scenes has it flowed; in what far-distant moun- 
tains is its source; what manner of people 
dwell along its banks or navigate its bosom; 
what tragedies and mysteries may not be hid- 
den in its depths; what wealth untold may not 
its sands conceal? Cast upon its shores, drift- 
ing slowly along upon its surface or swirling 
about in the grasp of its eddies, are bits of 



2 RIVERS AND THEIR MYSTERIES 

flotsam and jetsam, — branches of trees, frag- 
ments of fences or of buildings, — perchance a 
boat or raft, — the toll of the river brought 
from no one knows where, to be borne, eventu- 
ally, to the sea, carried for hundreds or maybe 
thousands of miles by this greatest and most 
important of transportation systems. And if 
a drop of the river's waters could but speak 
what a story of romance could it tell. What 
a tale of fascination and wonder! Hundreds, 
thousands, millions, — even billions of times 
perhaps, — has the same water made the long 
journey from source to ocean. Sucked up by 
the blazing sun from a brassy sea, carried by 
storm and wind across hundreds of leagues of 
mountain, hill, valley and plain, to fall at last 
as snow or rain and add its tiny quota to a 
trickling rill dripping among fern and 
bracken; joining with countless billions of 
other drops to form the little brook that in its 
course swells to the mighty river that flows 
ever onward to the sea. Who has not thought 
of such matters as he stood upon the river's 
bank or floated on its bosom? Who has not 
felt the longing and desire to travel up the 



THE ROMANCE OF RIVERS 3 

stream and track the river to its very source? 
Who has not felt a thrill as, at the river's 
mouth, he has thought of the long, long jour- 
ney the stream had made, only to lose itself 
within the sea? Even among the most primi- 
tive of races there exists a reverence, a feeling 
of awe, a wonder at a great river and it is only 
natural that from the most ancient times many 
races have worshipped rivers and have looked 
upon them as gods, for, aside from the ro- 
mance, the mystery and the respect which they 
inspire, they have always been of the utmost 
importance to mankind. There is no written 
history that does not deal very largely with 
rivers, no legend or fable that does not include 
rivers, no mythology in which rivers do not 
play a large part. To simple-minded, primi- 
tive man dwelling upon a river the stream was 
a living, mysterious thing. Its origin and 
oftentimes its final destination were unknown. 
It served him well and evidently possessed a 
good spirit, for did it not carry him safely on 
its breast; did it not provide water to quench 
his thirst and fish and other creatures for his 
food? In times of drought it watered his 



4 RIVERS AND THEIR MYSTERIES 

crops and kept the lands along its banks green 
and fresh when all else was dry and parched. 
At times, to be sure, it rose in wrath and swept 
beyond its banks and perchance injured him, 
but it was ever repentant and, to pay for its 
temporary lapse, it enriched his land and left 
treasures in the form of driftwood and other 
things for him to gather up. 

According to the Bible, the Garden of Eden 
was situated between the rivers Tigris and 
Euphrates. The Romans worshipped their 
Tiber and cast offerings worth untold fortunes 
into its waters. The Egyptians looked upon 
the Nile as a goddess, as well they might, for 
without it there would have been no Egyptian 
civilization. Our Indians considered the 
Mississippi as the Father of Waters and rev- 
erenced it accordingly. To the East Indian, 
the Ganges is sacred and to bathe in it or drink 
of its waters is a religious rite. The Germans 
wove countless fables, legends and poems 
about their Rhine; and everywhere, in history, 
in story, in folk-lore and in the progress of the 
human race, we find rivers playing a most im- 
portant part. Indeed, much of our civiliza- 



THE ROMANCE OF RIVERS 5 

tion, much of man's success, much of prosper- 
ity has been due entirely to rivers. What 
would London be without the Thames; Paris 
without the Seine; Rome without the Tiber, 
or New York without the Hudson? So too, 
what would Huckleberry Finn have done 
without the Mississippi or would Mark 
Twain ever have become famous and given 
to the world his stories had his early life 
not been spent upon the Father of Waters? 
And finally, there was the Styx — the imag- 
inary, mysterious, symbolical river over which 
Charon ferried departing souls, according to 
the ancients. 

And now let us seriously consider what 
rivers have done for mankind, how they have 
helped the human race, how they have been 
such an important factor in the civilization of 
the world, how they have aided progress and 
how hopeless and helpless the world would be 
without them. 

Wherever we find primitive man still exist- 
ing in his natural state we find the strongest, 
most self-reliant, most progressive and most 
intelligent tribes dwelling on or near the 



6 RIVERS AND THEIR MYSTERIES 

rivers. And there are many reasons for this. 
Along the streams, game is always more 
abundant and more easily secured. Within 
the waters there is always a plentiful supply 
of food to be had for the taking. Along the 
banks, or near them, is the most fertile land, 
and the man dwelling beside the river pos- 
sesses many advantages over his less fortunate 
fellows. To move about, he is not compelled 
to travel wearily across mountains and plains, 
through brush and forest. He can move 
easily, and with little effort, upon the stream 
itself. Thus, he can see more of the world, 
he can reap greater benefits from a larger area 
of country, he can broaden and improve his 
mind and he has chances to exercise his brains 
and ingenuity which would never be presented 
to the dweller of the forest or the plain away 
from a river. Beyond a doubt, boats first orig- 
inated among men who dwelt beside some 
stream, for no man can look across a river 
and not long to see what lies on the further 
bank. To the savage, a floating log or branch 
afforded a means of transportation, if the dis- 
tance were too great to swim, and from a float- 



THE ROMANCE OF RIVERS 7 

ing, rolling log to a raft was an easy step. By 
accident, perhaps, or possibly by a glimmer 
of reason, the primitive navigator found that 
a log hollowed on one side was drier and 
steadier than in its natural state and thus the 
dugout came into being. Among other tribes 
a bit of floating bark, — with perhaps a squir- 
rel or a rat upon it — suggested the bark canoe, 
while some savage hunter, soaking a dried 
hide in the river before his home, may have 
discovered that the skin floated and, by a little 
experimenting, he evolved the skin boat. And 
one can easily understand how a basket, acci- 
dentally lost and drifting down a river, might 
lead the savage to construct a basket large 
enough to hold himself and his belongings and 
which, daubed with pitch and gum to make it 
watertight, was the original coracle. 

Then, once having solved the problem of 
moving at will upon the river, our primitive 
navigator was no longer satisfied with discov- 
ering what was upon the further shores. His 
curiosity led him to drift with the current to 
see what lay beyond the next bend and the 
next. And as he drifted along he discovered 



8 RIVERS AND THEIR MYSTERIES 

that in his rude craft and moving silently, he 
could more readily approach and kill the 
game that came to the waterside to drink or 
bathe while, in midstream, he could secure 
more fish than from the banks. Gradually, 
day by day, he extended his sphere of explor- 
ation. He learned to propel his craft up 
stream against the current; he no doubt found 
better places for his home and for his crops. 
He found other men hitherto undreamed of 
dwelling beside his river, either above or be- 
low his own village, and he either fought with 
them and conquered or was conquered by 
them, or he found them friendly and bartered 
and traded with them. 

At last, years or even ages later perhaps, the 
savage mind longed to see whence the river 
came and whence it went and having become 
a confirmed riverman he journeyed down 
stream to the sea, or upstream to the 
limits of navigation, subduing tribes less 
strong and powerful, trading with others, un- 
til, from source to mouth, the river formed 
a highway for mankind to travel, — a ready 
means of transportation and of trade and com- 



THE ROMANCE OF RIVERS 9 

merce. And just as primitive man in his bark 
or skin or dugout boat developed his crude 
commerce on his jungle-bordered river, so 
civilized man followed in his wake until the 
commerce of a nation depended almost as 
much upon its rivers as upon its ports and sur- 
rounding seas. Long before means of land 
travel were invented or dreamed of, boats 
plied upon the great rivers and carried the 
products of the interior to the coasts and dis- 
tant lands and in return brought goods and 
products of far-off countries to the dwellers 
long distances from the coast. Thus we shall 
find that nearly every great commercial port 
is situated upon a river, or at a river's mouth, 
for the rivers are the commercial arteries of 
the land, the cheapest means of transportation 
and, with their branches, form a network 
of water highways penetrating to all parts of 
the country. So too, as the settlements and 
villages along the rivers were in more direct 
communication with the outside world than 
those at a distance from the streams, such 
places became more populous and prosperous 
and more and more people deserted their in- 



io RIVERS AND THEIR MYSTERIES 

terior homes and lived beside the rivers, while 
other places, too important or prosperous to 
be moved or abandoned, brought the rivers to 
their doors by constructing artificial streams 
or canals. 

Not only did the riverside towns become 
more important and prosperous through com- 
merce, but they had many other advantages 
as well. The streams provided water power 
to turn mill wheels and develop manufactures 
and industries, and even if the interior towns 
possessed streams which would serve this pur- 
pose, yet they were at a disadvantage and 
could scarcely compete with those which 
manufactured their goods close to a navig- 
able river with no overland transportation 
charges to pay. 

Even in agriculture the riverside settle- 
ments had the advantage, not only because 
they were so close to the flow of commerce, 
but also because the river bottom-lands were 
rich and fertile and suffered less from drought 
than lands further inland. And so, realizing 
all this, man, whenever able, followed the 
courses of the rivers when settling or develop- 



THE ROMANCE OF RIVERS n 

ing a country and, after the coast, the first 
towns and villages always sprang up along 
the rivers 7 banks. From them, in time, roads 
and highways were built into the surrounding 
country, for mineral wealth, certain farm 
lands, timber and many another resource were 
not obtainable beside the streams and from all 
the surrounding country men sent their goods, 
their products and their manufactures to the 
nearest river town to be carried down the 
stream to the sea and to far-away markets. Of 
course, with the advent of railways and mod- 
ern transportation systems, the importance of 
the waterways decreased somewhat, but de- 
spite all this the large rivers still hold their 
own as commercial highways, their banks are 
still dotted with prosperous, thriving towns, 
they are still the cheapest means of transpor- 
tation, their water still supplies the most eco- 
nomical form of power and in many ways a 
country's prosperity, wealth and importance 
may be judged quite accurately by the size 
and importance of its rivers. 

And now if we will look through any geog- 
raphy or atlas and glance at the maps we will 



12 RIVERS AND THEIR MYSTERIES 

find that this is so. It makes little difference 
whether the country is old or new, whether 
it is an agricultural, a mining, a commercial 
or a manufacturing nation. China and India, 
— the most ancient of civilized lands, — show 
this. Aside from the coastwise ports, nearly 
every large or important city of these nations 
is upon or close to a river, while round and 
about each of these, the smaller towns cluster, 
with their size and importance becoming less 
and less as their distance from the waterways 
increases. 

Look at the map of Europe and we will find 
the same thing true. Dotting the banks of the 
Danube, the Rhine, the Volga, the Seine, the 
Guadalquivir, the Rhone, the Tiber and all 
the other large rivers are big, important towns 
and while there are many other famous and 
large towns in every European nation yet they 
are far in the minority, and still Europe is so 
thickly populated, so thoroughly settled, so 
crossed and crisscrossed with railways and 
motor roads that the importance of rivers has 
been greatly reduced and it would be impos- 
sible for even a large proportion of the inhabi- 



THE ROMANCE OF RIVERS 13 

tants to find places to live along the river 
banks. 

Even in little England, with its proportion- 
ately huge seacoast, its many splendid har- 
bours, its tremendous ocean commerce and its 
wonderful system of railways we find the most 
noteworthy and most important towns and 
cities along the rivers. London on the 
Thames, Liverpool on the Mersey, Hull on 
the Humber, Glasgow on the Clyde, New- 
castle on the Tyne, Dundee on the Tay, Bristol 
on the Severn, Cork on the Tee, and on the 
Continent Paris on the Seine, Berlin on the 
Spree, Bordeaux on the Garonne, Bremen on 
the Weser, Hamburg on the Elbe, Lisbon on 
the Tagus, Oporto on the Douro, Seville on 
the Guadalquivir, Turin on the Po, Bologna 
on the Reno, Vienna and Budapest on the 
Danube, all are splendid examples of the 
progress, the wealth, the prosperity and the 
importance of towns built upon rivers and of 
the value of rivers to a nation. 

In our own country, too, we will find it the 
same. Throughout New England and the 
Atlantic States the principal, long-established 



i 4 RIVERS AND THEIR MYSTERIES 

towns that made our country what it is are on 
rivers. Bangor, Concord, Boston, Worcester, 
Springfield, Providence, Hartford, and a 
score of others might be mentioned while 
along the Connecticut, — New England's long- 
est river, — big busy towns and cities are 
strung like beads. From New York City to 
its source the Hudson is fringed with impor- 
tant towns ; through Pennsylvania, Delaware, 
Maryland, Virginia and our Southern states 
it is the same. One can almost follow the 
march of progress and settlement of the 
United States by glancing at the rivers and 
we all know that the Mississippi and its tribu- 
taries led largely to the opening up and the 
settlement of our west and middle west and 
such towns as Memphis, Little Rock, Cairo, 
St. Louis, Cincinnati, Louisville, Peoria, Des 
Moines, Dubuque, St. Paul, Minneapolis, 
and many others came into existence and are 
still of importance mainly because they are 
on large rivers. 

Finally, if we look at a map of a compar- 
atively new or unsettled country we will find 
this even more apparent. Oftentimes the 



THE ROMANCE OF RIVERS 15 

country appears almost a blank except for the 
rivers and their immediate vicinity for in ex- 
ploration and discovery rivers play a most 
important part and are often the only means 
by which a country can be penetrated. Espe- 
cially is this true of the tropical lands where, 
to penetrate the dense forests and jungles is 
well-nigh impossible, where one must hew 
one's way at every step, where the bush is so 
dense that nothing is visible a dozen yards 
away and whe *e no survey could be made. 
But by following the great rivers the explorer, 
the prospector, the scientist, the surveyor and 
the colonizer can make long journeys in com- 
parative ease and can obtain a very good idea 
of the country, its fauna and flora, its resources 
and possibilities and most important of all, 
ample outfits and supplies may be carried to 
provide for trips of long duration. Indeed, in 
such countries as Guiana, Brazil and many 
parts of the East Indies and other tropical 
countries the land away from the rivers still 
remains unexplored and unknown although 
great steamships may ply up and down the 
rivers, big, busy towns may dot the banks and 
commerce on a tremendous scale may be 
carried on. 



Chapter II 

HOW RIVERS ARE FORMED 

We commonly speak of rivers "rising" and 
of the "sources" of rivers, but strictly speak- 
ing, rivers do not "rise" in any one particular 
spot and neither do they have any one source. 
Although it is quite true that if we look at a 
map of a river we will find that it appears 
to originate or "rise" at a definite location 
yet, if we should visit the locality, we would 
find it very difficult, if not impossible, to trace 
the river to its very beginning. Of course, as 
in the case of many things, there are excep- 
tions and many rivers may be traced directly 
to some pond or lake which might be consid- 
ered the source. But even then the question 
arises as to whether or not the lake really is 
the beginning of the river, for the lake or 
pond is formed by one or many streams flow- 
ing into a depression of land and the real 
source of the river would be the spot or spots 

16 



HOW RIVERS ARE FORMED 17 



where these smaller streams have their begin- 
nings. It is the same with rivers which are not 
fed from a lake or pond. As we approach 
the head-waters of the river we find, as a rule, 
that there are numerous brooks or creeks of 





SOURCES OF RIVERS 

1. Source from brooks and springs. 2. Source from lake. 

3. Source from swamp. 

nearly uniform size flowing from many direc- 
tions to form the main stream, each of these 
in turn being formed by many more rills or 
tiny brooklets and oftentimes it is merely a 
matter of choice or individual preference as 
to which of the various waterways is consid- 
ered the source of the river. Again, a river 
may appear to start from a bog, swamp or 
morass which is formed by the drainage of 
surrounding country and which is fed by 



1 8 RIVERS AND THEIR MYSTERIES 

many small streams or even springs, and who 
can say which one of these is the real source 
of the river? Hence, when we say a river 
rises in a certain place or has its source in a 
definite spot we merely mean that it cannot 
be traced as a river beyond such a location. 
Indeed, strictly speaking, the source of every 
river is the ocean and it rises not in one spot, 
but in many, for a river is not a single individ- 
ual stream, but is formed or built up by the 
confluence of myriads of other streams, one 
or more of which may be as long or as large 
or even longer and larger than the main river 
itself. 

In fact rivers are merely natural drainage 
ditches or canals which carry off the super- 
fluous rain which falls upon the country and 
which, by means of the rivers, is carried to the 
sea to be again drawn up by the sun and 
formed into clouds which fall as rain and is 
once more drained off by the rivers over and 
over again. Thus, we can judge of the char- 
acter of a country by the number and size of 
its rivers as indicated on a map, for where 
there are few or no rivers we may be sure 



HOW RIVERS ARE FORMED 19 

there is little or no rain and where the rivers 
are large and numerous we may feel sure there 
is an abundant rainfall or snowfall. For exam- 
ple, if we look at the map of equatorial South 
America we find it covered with large rivers 
and their tributaries, such as the mighty Ama- 
zon, the Orinoco, the Essequibo, the Magda- 
lena, etc., and judging from this we would at 
once assume that it is an area of heavy rain- 
fall, which is the truth. On the other hand, 
if we study the map of northern Africa, or of 
our southwestern states, we will find few 
rivers and, even if we did not already know it 
to be the case, we would be quite safe in de- 
claring that these districts were dry and 
desert-like. Many people, however, get the 
cart before the horse, as the old saying goes, 
and have an idea that the desert-like areas are 
due to the lack of rivers and vice-versa 
whereas, in reality, the lack of rivers or the 
presence of rivers, is due to the dry or rainy 
character of the country. Of course, a large 
river flowing through a barren, desert-like 
land would add to its fertility and to some 
extent to its rainfall; but the effect would 



20 RIVERS AND THEIR MYSTERIES 

be very restricted and local for the amount 
of water evaporated or drawn up from even 
the greatest rivers is almost negligible and 
would scarcely be sufficient to fall as rain 
even in the immediate neighborhood, while 
the water absorbed by the soil along the 
river's course would affect the surrounding 
country for only a very short distance unless 
artificially carried across the land by ditches 
or irrigation canals. Indeed, where we do 
now and then find a large river flowing 
across an arid district we seldom find the 
country through which it passes noticeably 
affected by the stream and if we trace such 
a river to its headwaters we will always find 
that it originates or "rises" either in a moun- 
tainous country, where melting snows produce 
streams, or in a rainy, forested area and that 
the river flows across the arid country merely 
because it follows the direction and route of 
least resistance. 

Excellent examples of how closely the 
character of a country may be judged by 
the rivers are the western coast of South 
America and Australia. Along the Pacific 



HOW RIVERS ARE FORMED 21 

coasts of South America west of the Andes 
we find practically no streams of any size, 
whereas on the eastern slopes of the Andes, 
large rivers and streams are numerous. So, 
too, in Australia, we will see that the coun- 
try is almost equally divided into a riverless 
area on the west and an area crossed by num- 
erous rivers in the east. Thus we at once 
assume that the western coast of South Amer- 
ica and the western portions of Australia 
are dry and arid, while the eastern slopes 
of the Andean countries and the eastern por- 
tion of Australia are fertile and with an 
ample rainfall. 

Reasoning from this we can judge still fur- 
ther of the character of the countries and we 
can safely aver that forests, luxuriant vegeta- 
tion, rich agricultural land, teeming life and 
interesting and varied fauna and flora 
would be met with in eastern Australia and 
on the eastern Andean slopes, while barren, 
rocky, or sandy wastes, scant vegetation, dry 
lands and a limited variety of plant and ani- 
mal life would be found in western Aus- 
tralia and on the Pacific slopes of South 



22 RIVERS AND THEIR MYSTERIES 

America, although the only indications of 
this upon the maps would be the absence 
or presence of rivers. 

As there is a good and simple reason for 
everything in nature, let us go a little fur- 
ther back and learn why certain portions 
of a country should be dry and riverless 
while other portions close at hand should 
have a copious rainfall and should possess 
many rivers. 

The explanation is practically the same 
in all countries where such conditions exist, 
so we may take one example, and as it is al- 
ways wise to begin near at home let us con- 
sider South America. 

Blowing steadily across the Atlantic from 
east to west are the Trade Winds ladened 
with moisture drawn from the ocean's sur- 
face by the equatorial sun and sweeping in- 
land across the vast continent. With no 
mountain ranges to interrupt its onward way, 
the damp air moves across the forest-covered 
interior where a portion of the moisture is 
condensed and falls as rain until, at last, the 
mighty barrier of the Andes bars further 



HOW RIVERS ARE FORMED 23 

progress and the sky-piercing peaks covered 
with snow and ice condense the last of the 
moisture in the air and bring it to earth in 
the form of rain and snow. Trickling down 
the mountain sides in thousands of rills and 
streamlets the water, borne by the Trade 
Winds from the far-off Atlantic, gathers in 
volume and at last forms the mighty Ama- 
zon which carries the water again to the 
sea. As the moisture-laden winds meeting 
the barrier of the Andes has resulted in a 
well-watered, luxuriantly forested area with 
its great river, so too, the forests which have 
been thus created have added to the rainfall, 
to the rivers and to their own luxuriance 
for, protected and sheltered by the forests 
the ground cannot become parched and dry 
while, from the vast area of thousands of 
square miles of damp, cool leaves, the sun 
draws enormous quantities of moisture which 
in turn is discharged when the winds reach 
the Andes. Thus the forests draw rain from 
the Trade Winds and also give up to take its 
place moisture which again reaches them by 
way of the rivers. And now, having learned 



24 RIVERS AND THEIR MYSTERIES 

why the eastern portion of this continent is 
well watered and is rich in vegetation, let us 
see why the western coasts are dry and 
barren. The reason is very simple, for 
there are no moisture-filled winds blow- 
ing inland from the Pacific and thus no clouds 
drift against the western slopes of the Andes, 
no rain falls and no rivers are formed and no 
forests clothe the mountain sides with green- 
ery. But travel a little to the north — to the 
coasts of Ecuador Columbia and Panama and 
we will find rivers, dense forests and fertile 
lands stretching from the shores of the Paci- 
fic to the higher portions of the mountain 
ranges. Why is this, you may well ask. 
Merely because in this area moisture- 
ladened winds do blow from west to 
east during a portion of the year and drop 
their precious store of water upon the west- 
ern slopes of the continent. 

So, wherever we find a country with rivers 
flowing from both sides of its mountain 
ranges we may feel quite sure that winds 
blow from various directions, which is the 
case with a large portion of the temperate 



HOW RIVERS ARE FORMED 25 

countries of Europe and North America. 
As I have mentioned, when speaking of the 
Amazon district, the forests have a very 
great effect upon the rainfall, but the moun- 
tains and the prevailing winds were the orig- 
inal causes of rain and rivers in some places 
or lack of rain and rivers in others. Long 
ages before our present-day forests were 
known upon the earth, certain areas were well 
watered and were drained by rivers, while 
other areas were barren, dry and riverless, for 
while it is quite true that forests add to a 
country's rainfall and conserve the moisture 
yet rainfall and rivers must exist before forests 
can grow. But in the dawn of the earth's 
history conditions were very different from 
the present time. Then water covered most 
of the earth, the temperature was much 
higher; humid, moisture-filled air spread 
like an enormous blanket over the skies and 
rain fell almost ceaselessly so that what land 
that did exist was almost a swamp or vast 
morass and gigantic forms of vegetation 
sprang into existence. Probably, in those 
days, there were no true rivers and it was not 



26 RIVERS AND THEIR MYSTERIES 

until the earth had greatly altered, until the 
waters had receded and the land with its 
mountains, plains and valleys had taken on 
more or less its present form that rivers, as 
we know them, came into existence and areas 
of dry riverless deserts and fertile, well- 
watered, river-cut areas were developed. 

Now, having learned something of the 
origin of rivers and why some places are 
riverless and some are well watered, let us 
see how rivers affect the land itself, for in 
many ways rivers have a far greater influ- 
^w ence upon the land that the land has upon 
the rivers. But even here again we find a 
sort of involved, endless chain of causes and 
effects, for the very changes and alterations 
which rivers produce upon the land are 
caused by the character of the land through 
which the rivers flow. If the country is 
mountainous or rocky the river will follow 
the valleys or ravines between the hills and 
will flow swiftly, in the form of rapids, will 
dash over ledges and cliffs in cataracts and 
waterfalls and will wear a deep, narrow 
course for itself. If the stream flows through 



HOW RIVERS ARE FORMED 27 

level land or meadows it will flow slowly, 
calmly and evenly and will broaden out and 
travel in a straight course or will sweep in 
graceful curves and turns while, if passing 
through a district of hills, or ridges, and 
valleys, it may form a series or chain of lakes. 
But no matter whether it dashes noisily 
through rocky defiles or flows majestically 
across plains, whether it sweeps onward to- 
wards the sea as straight as a canal or bends 
and twists and doubles on itself, there is al- 
ways some simple explanation to account for 
it. Invariably a river flows through the low- 
est depressions of land in its course and in- 
variably the water follows the way of least 
resistance, although at first sight we may not 
think so. Let us first consider a river rising 
in a mountainous district where the country 
is composed of hard rock. Here we will find 
the stream flows swiftly and follows the nat- 
ural curves and twists of the defiles between 
the mountains. But we will also find upon a 
close examination that the rocky sides of the 
river's course have been cut and worn by the 
stream itself, that through countless ages the 



28 RIVERS AND THEIR MYSTERIES 

water has carved its own bed many feet 
deeper than the original ravines and we will 
find the bed of the stream full of rounded, 
water-worn pebbles and boulders. These 
are the tools by which the stream has chis- 
elled its way through the hard rock, for 
while water alone will in time wear through 
the hardest granite such action is exceedingly 
slow. 

But the sand pebbles and stones, con- 
stantly kept in motion by the current, grind 
and cut and carve the rock very rapidly. 
Swept along by the stream they not only cut 
ever deeper and deeper into the rock, but 
they also wear away the sides of the river 
bed leaving overhanging or projecting ledges 
which at last crumble and fall into the 
stream. If the masses thus cut loose are 
small, or if they are cracked or shattered in 
their fall, they are soon broken up by the 
stream, their finer portions are carried along 
and the larger fragments take their turn at 
carving and cutting away the surrounding 
rock. But if the masses are so large or hard 
that the stream finds them an obstacle too 



HOW RIVERS ARE FORMED 29 




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3 o RIVERS AND THEIR MYSTERIES 

great to be overcome it follows the direction 
of least resistance and either flows to one 
side or pours over them in a miniature cata- 
ract. In the latter case the mass of rock 
will in time be broken up, the fragments 
will separate and the cataract will become a 
series of rapids. If, on the other hand, the 
stream swings to one side, the stones and 
pebbles will at once commence cutting a new 
channel and in time the stream will flow in 
a curve or bend around the fallen mass 
which eventually may thus be left resting in 
the former river bed far above the water. 
Moreover, if, as is generally the case, the 
rock varies in hardness, or is in the form 
of strata or layers, the river will cut its way 
much more rapidly and will flow through 
picturesque canons or deep ravines with 
numerous waterfalls, innumerable bends and 
turns and oftentimes with tunnels or natural 
bridges. 

If the strata or layers of rock are perpen- 
dicular or vertical the stream, wearing 
away the softer rocks, may flow through a 
deep, narrow, precipitously-walled canon 



HOW RIVERS ARE FORMED 31 

hundreds or thousands of feet below the edges 
of harder rock. If the strata is tipped or at 
an angle, we will find the bed of the stream 
deeply undercut in some spots, broadly slop- 
ing and worn in another and forming series 
of cascades or rapids in others, while if the 
strata is horizontal we will find the stream 
descending by means of stair-like waterfalls 
with the sides of its course often carved and 
eroded in grotesque, remarkable forms re- 
sembling castles, terraces and citadels. Such 
is the Grand Canon of the Colorado and the 
wonderfully carved and picturesque sides 
are due to the water wearing its way through 
layers of rock of varying degrees of hard- 
ness. 

The Grand Canon is remarkable merely 
for its size and grandeur and we may 
often find, near at hand, some little 
mountain stream or river which has carved 
a canon fully as beautiful on a miniature 
scale. I have already spoken of the pebbles 
carried by a stream cutting into the sur- 
rounding rocks and while moving stones and 
sand, combined with flowing water, will cut 



32 RIVERS AND THEIR MYSTERIES 

rock as hard or harder than themselves — ex- 
actly as diamond dust will cut diamonds — yet 
when the boulders and pebbles and sand are 
of harder material than the surrounding rock 
their action as abrasives is far greater and 
more rapid. And, as a rule, the sand and 
pebbles carried by a stream are of much 
harder material than the bulk of the sur- 
rounding rock, for they represent the resi- 
due after all the softer portions have been 
pulverized and carried away. Moreover, it 
will easily be seen that when these ever- 
moving tools of the river strike a layer or 
strata of softer rock they will bite into it 
more rapidly than in other spots, with the 
result that deep basins, tunnels, natural 
arches and bridges, deeply undercut ledges 
and precipitous-sided ravines result. So too, 
if a hard rock finds a depression in which to 
lodge, or if by the action of a whirlpool or 
swirling current, it is turned around and 
around in one spot, it will finally wear a cir- 
cular hole or cavity and will produce what 
is known as a pot-hole. The deeper these 
holes become the faster they wear down, for 



HOW RIVERS ARE FORMED 33 

more and more stones and gravel lodge with- 
in them, the whirling current is increased 
and the abrasion is ever greater and greater. 
In nearly every stream which flows over a 
rocky bed we may find pot-holes and where 
these are numerous and deep they play a very 
important part in the erosion of the river's 
bed. We may often find great areas of rock 
which have been cut away by being weakened 
by pot-holes until the whole mass crumbled, 
exactly as a carpenter might bore a number 
of augur holes in a plank and then, by 
chiselling the wood between them, remove a 
large piece of the material with little labor. 

Very often, too, we find these pot-holes 
far above the present level of the water, 
showing how much the stream has cut its 
way downward into the rock since the pot- 
holes were formed. 

At other times, these pot-holes may com- 
mence in a fairly hard layer of rock and 
wearing down through this reach a softer 
layer. In such cases the pot-holes may be 
curious affairs with their bottom portions 
far larger than their openings, or the softer 



34 RIVERS AND THEIR MYSTERIES 

layer below may be entirely worn away leav- 
ing a projecting or overhanging layer of 
hard rock perforated by holes as smooth and 
regular as though bored with a gigantic 
augur. Occasionally such pot-holes may be 
the cause of a cataract or waterfall for the 
water, pouring through them, wears them 
ever deeper and larger until the rock breaks 
off along the line of holes and the stream, 
finding the new course easier, abandons its 
old bed and follows the new one. But as a 
rule, cataracts and waterfalls are due to 
horizontal layers of hard and soft rock or to 
vertical or nearly vertical layers or dykes of 
hard rock cutting though an area of softer 
rock. 

If a river flows through a bed of hard 
rock and reaches a spot where softer rock 
begins, its water and its pebbles and sand cut 
away the softer rock and forms a shelf or 
terrace and the more the soft rock below is 
worn away the more rapidly the falling 
water and its increased force cuts and breaks 
it, until at last, the river drops in a stupen- 
dous waterfall from the bed of hard rock to 



HOW RIVERS ARE FORMED 35 

the bottom of the soft rock channel hundreds 
of feet below. If the harder rock is of great 
thickness the fall may be perpendicular or 
may slope slightly outwards at the base, but 
if it is comparatively thin the softer rock 
beneath will constantly wear back to form 
a huge cavern and the overlying harder rock 
will, from time to time, break off at the 
fall's verge so that the cataract will grad- 
ually recede further and further up the 
stream. 

This is the case with Niagara, with stupen- 
dous Kaieteur Falls in Guiana and with 
many other large waterfalls. In many 
places, dykes of hard rock cut through areas 
of softer rocks and these invariably produce 
cataracts, rapids or huge waterfalls depend- 
ing largely upon the comparative hardness 
of the two kinds of rock, the speed and size 
of the stream and the slope or character of 
the country through which it flows. If the 
banks above the dyke are low, the stream, 
backing up behind the dyke like a mill pond 
behind a dam, may find a new channel 
through soft earth or rock to one side, and 



36 RIVERS AND THEIR MYSTERIES 

following this, may descend in rapids around 
the dyke. But if the banks are high, the 
water, pouring over the dyke, will rapidly 
cut away on the lower side and will form 
a waterfall which will increase in height as 
the years go by and the ceaselessly descend- 
ing water wears the rock below the dyke 
deeper and deeper. 

Very often, too, the very forces which 
produce a cataract may eventually destroy 
it, for as it is cut further and further back, 
as already described, the hard rock may be 
worn away until soft rock is reached when 
the river will rapidly cut down to the level 
below the original falls and in place of a 
glorious cataract only swift-flowing, tumbling 
rapids will remain. At other times, dykes 
or layers or projections of hard rock may 
form islands and such rocky islands are very 
common at or near the verges of cataracts 
and in rapids. Very often, too, islands are 
formed in swift-flowing mountain streams by 
accumulations of rocks, pebbles and gravel 
which pile up in the slack water between 
currents or deeper channels or where the 



HOW RIVERS ARE FORMED 37 

stream swings around a bend or corner. In 
such places the current always follows the 
outer or further curve of the banks and as it 
cuts deeper and deeper into this, material 
is constantly being piled up on the opposite 
side of the stream or between the two banks. 
In this way a river, even in a rocky district, 
may move about considerably and in the 
course of years it may change its channel 
and produce great alterations in the coun- 
try. 

This is particularly true of streams 
which are fed by melting snows in spring 
and which are subject to sudden rises or 
freshets. At such times, when the waters are 
swollen by rains and melting snows, the stream 
may find its channel too small to carry off 
all its volume and it may overflow its banks 
and dig a new bed which it will ever after- 
wards follow, leaving the original course to 
be overgrown with vegetation and to become 
a dry ravine or canon. We often find such 
places, with their steep, rocky sides still show- 
ing the marks of being cut and chiselled by 
flowing water and grinding stones and yet 



38 RIVERS AND THEIR MYSTERIES 

with a mere trickle of water — far too small 
to acount for the deep ravines — flowing 
along the bottoms. These are sure indica- 
tions that at some time in the past a large 
stream or river cut its channel through the 
rocks and then, either by the erosion of some 
barrier or by the sudden onrush of a freshet, 
found an easier route towards the sea and 
deserted the bed it had taken so many ages 
to carve out for itself. 

In addition to all this, there are the influ- 
ences of ice and snow in the northern coun- 
tries. Few forces in nature possess the power 
of eroism of ice and wherever a stream flows 
through rocky districts and tumbles over 
ledges and dykes in cascades, rapids and 
waterfalls, a vast amount of ice is formed 
from the freezing spray. Not only does this 
break and crack the rocks through expansion 
when freezing, but rocks already weakened 
by the stream may be brought crashing down 
through the weight of ice and snow upon 
them, while masses of reck which still with- 
stand all this give way to the roaring, dash- 
ing force of the river increased to many times 



HOW RIVERS ARE FORMED 39 

its normal size by the melting snow and ice 
in the spring and with masses of floating ice 
acting like titanic battering rams. For these 
reasons rivers of the north do most of their 
cutting and moving and altering the face of 
nature during the winter and spring and in 
i 




/ '-" ^ Z * 3 % " * ' 

HOW RIVERS BECOME CROOKED AND HOW THEY CUT NEW 
CHANNELS 

1. Straight stream (shown by dotted lines) with log causing currents 

to be deflected and cut into bank thus producing bends. 

2. Curved stream showing currents deflected to one bank and back cur- 

rents allowing silt to settle on the other side. 

3. Effect of cutting by deflected currents (dotted line shows old curve 

and accumulation of silt. 

4. The currents cutting through bank (dotted lines show old channel 

and bank) and forming new channel. 

a single season a river may change its course 
entirely or may work tremendous changes 
in the surrounding rocks and hills. 

But by far the greatest changes of land 
wrought by rivers take place where the 
streams flow through a fairly level country 
of sand or clay or loam. 



4 o RIVERS AND THEIR MYSTERIES 

Here the river is not confined by hard dur- 
able rock which must be cut and carved a bit 
at a time through centuries, but flows through 
material which is easily and rapidly cut and 
moved, and as a result, such rivers are con- 
stantly shifting their courses, are ever mak- 
ing new land and carrying away old and 
are by no means the fixed and stable water- 
ways we imagine them. If a river flowing 
through alluvial country runs fairly straight 
and follows the depression or valley between 
ranges or ridges of hills, it may continue in 
practically the same bed indefinitely, for it is 
following the course of least resistance. But 
it is seldom that a stream does run straight 
for any great distance. A very slight ob- 
struction, such as a log, an old stump or 
snag, a boulder, or even an area of slightly 
firmer or more tenacious soil or a bunch of 
grass or tree roots, will produce eddies and 
currents in the flowing water. Then the river 
at once commences its work of tearing down 
and building up. Up stream from the ob- 
struction, the current of the river will be 
slowed down while, on either side of it, the 



HOW RIVERS ARE FORMED 41 

speed of the current will increase in propor- 
tion. Where the current is checked, the sand, 
mud and sediment in the water has time to 
settle and gradually accumulates to form a 
bar and the larger this becomes the more the 
current is checked and the faster silt is 
dropped. Then bits of driftwood, leaves and 
waste matter of all kinds are cast upon the 
little bar; seeds find lodgment and take root 
and grow; the roots of the plants bind the 
soil together and protect it from washing 
away and in a short time a real island is 
formed in midstream. And on either side 
the current cuts deeper and further into the 
banks as the water is forced aside by the 
ever-growing island, until, at last, the islet 
is situated in a broad, lake-like expanse of 
river. 

Or again, one of the side currents, in 
cutting its way into the bank, may break 
through a low ridge or hummock and find 
a way into another depression or valley and 
follow this toward the sea. Perhaps, if this 
new channel is large and deep, the entire 
river may follow it and abandon its old bed 



42 RIVERS AND THEIR MYSTERIES 

or, in other cases, one portion of the stream 
may follow the new course while the other 
part continues in its original bed and thus 
two separate rivers are produced which may 
diverge so much that, by the time they reach 
the sea, their mouths may be many miles apart 
and no one would dream that a stranded log 
or bit of drift had altered one river and had 
formed the two. Oftentimes, too, the obstruc- 
tion may bring about a very different sort of 
change. If near one of the banks of the 
river, it may throw the bulk of the water 
towards the opposite shore with the result 
that, instead of forming an island, it pro- 
duces a point or cape of land and the cur- 
rent, swinging around this, will cut deeper 
and deeper into the opposite bank, ever pil- 
ing up material on the outjutting point un- 
til, where the river had once flowed straight 
or in a slight curve, a great bend is pro- 
duced. 

Even if there is no obstruction, a 
river may change its course tremendously 
for the slightest curve or bend in its channel 
will result in the water flowing more rapidly 



HOW RIVERS ARE FORMED 43 

on the outer side of the curve and more 
slowly on the inner side and as soon as this 
occurs the outer banks are cut further and 
further back and the inner banks are extend- 
ed further and further out by the constant 
accumulation of silt and drifting material. 
This may result in the river gradually alter- 
ing from a nearly straight stream to a river 
sweeping in great, graceful bends, for in cut- 
ting and wearing away the bank a portion 
of the force of the current is exhausted, the 
speed of the flowing water is decreased and 
the more rapidly moving water in the centre 
of the stream is thus thrown over to the 
opposite bank where it commences to cut 
away the shore until a second bend is pro- 
duced, and thus continuing, the river pro- 
duces a series of curves to right and left until 
its course looks like a gigantic, writhing 
serpent. 

On the other hand, a river which flows in 
curves may cut away the bank at one bend 
until it breaks through to a new hollow or 
valley in the land and thus the stream may 
be diverted and in a night may shift across 



44 RIVERS AND THEIR MYSTERIES 

country for miles or it may cut through from 
one curve to another and thus straighten its 
course. This had often happened and where 
a river is used as a boundary between dif- 
ferent countries, states or private lands it 
often causes great confusion, legal battles 
and even wars. 

Particularly is this true in sandy districts 
and the Missouri and the Rio Grande are 
famous for such behavior. A man owning 
property on such a river may wake up any 
morning and find his land has doubled or 
trebled in area or he may find that his hun- 
dreds of acres have been taken from him in a 
few hours and delivered to his neighbors. 
So a person dwelling near the border of Mex- 
ico, where the Rio Grande is the boundary 
line, may be a resident of the United States 
one day and a resident of Mexico the next. 

Another cause for rivers changing their 
course is the alteration of the land, either 
by man or by forces of nature. A bridge, 
pier, dock, dam or even a wall or post may 
entirely alter a river's course or change its 
width or depth and engineers, knowing this, 



HOW RIVERS ARE FORMED 45 

frequently turn rivers aside or make them 
deepen their own channels or cut away land 
to benefit man. Very often also, a river may 
change its character or course through the 
land rising or falling, although the altera- 
tion in the country may be so slight that it 
is not detected by human beings. Every- 
where the land is gradually being pushed 
upward or is slowly dropping down and 
while this may go on for centuries without 
affecting the rivers, yet the time comes at last 
when a depression which has kept a river on 
its course is higher than some nearby spot, 
or a rise which has hitherto kept the stream 
within bounds is lower than the river level, and 
in either case the water, ever seeking the lowest 
levels and the path of least resistance, changes 
its course. 

In many places as for example some of the 
West Indian islands where the land rises or 
falls comparatively rapidly, the alteration of 
river beds, due to such causes, may easily be 
seen. On some of the islands one portion of 
the land is rising much more rapidly 
than others and here one can trace the 



46 RIVERS AND THEIR MYSTERIES 

steady movement of the rivers from north 
to south or from east to west as the case may 
be. In some of these localities we can find 
ancient river beds scores of feet above sea 
level and can find a dozen or more successive 
dry beds between the first and the present 
course of the river. Indeed, some of these 
rivers have moved so rapidly that the va- 
rious courses they have followed are joined 
to form one enormous bed many miles in 
width with the present stream occupying 
the lowest point. At times, moreover, a 
slight earthquake may produce changes in 
the land which will entirely alter streams 
and rivers and in tropical lands, where 
earthquakes and volcanic eruptions are com- 
mon, the rivers are constantly swinging from 
place to place and finding new outlets to 
the sea. 

You may think, if rivers move about as 
I have described, that it would result in 
great damages to crops, lands and the inhabi- 
tants of the neighboring country and while 
rivers do cause damage in this way and may 
even destroy towns or villages, yet there are 



HOW RIVERS ARE FORMED 47 

compensations, for what rivers take from 
one place they give to another. Land made 
by rivers, either by forming islands or by 
altering their courses, is usually rich and 
fertile, for it contains large amounts of de- 
caying vegetable and mineral matter carried 
by the water, while valleys or river bottoms 
which are inundated or flooded by rivers at 
times of freshets are noted for their fer- 
tility. The bottom-lands of many of our 
western rivers are marvelously rich while the 
meadows and "intervales" of our eastern 
streams produce wonderful crops, for with 
every overflow of the river a thin layer of 
fine loam, pulverized rocks, decaying leaves 
and vegetation and disintegrated minerals is 
left upon the land when the waters recede. 
Now, having seen how rivers are formed, 
how they change their courses and alter the 
face of the country, how they are constantly 
working and carving their way through stone 
or soil and how they both injure and benefit 
man, let us follow the rivers to the sea and 
discover how they affect the ocean and its 
shores. 



Chapter III 

RIVERS' MOUTHS AND DELTAS 

You may think that rivers can have very 
little effect upon the mighty oceans and while 
in a way this is true to some extent, yet large 
rivers do have a very great effect upon vast 
areas of the ocean and all rivers have a great 
bearing upon the shores of the ocean. 

Every river and stream, whether swift or 
sluggish, deep or shallow, wide or narrow, 
large or small, carries a certain amount of 
fine earth, sand and silt in its waters, to say 
nothing of the floating or drift material 
which is carried on its surface. The larger 
the river the more material it carries, as a 
rule, but a very large, slow-flowing, sluggish 
river may carry far less material to its mouth 
than a smaller swiftly flowing stream. The 
reason for this is that the slower a 

48 



RIVERS' MOUTHS AND DELTAS 49 

stream flows the more opportunity there is 
for the suspended silt and sand to settle 
while, in addition, the sluggish stream does 
not disturb and stir up the mud and sand on 
its bed as does a swift-flowing stream. Thus, 
a very large but slow-flowing river may de- 
posit nearly all its transported material long 
before it reaches the sea, while a rapidly 
flowing, smaller stream may carry practi- 
cally all of its loose, transportable material 
along with it and not drop it until its on- 
rushing flow is checked by the ocean. There- 
fore, a large, sluggish river is usually filled 
with bars and shallows along its upper 
course, but is deep near its mouth, whereas 
a smaller, swift stream may be deep and free 
from bars along its course and may have its 
mouth choked and shut off from the ocean by 
bars of sand and stones. On the other hand, 
the waves washing into a river's mouth or 
the tide flowing up it may carry the silt and 
sand back and forth and distribute it over 
a large area of the river's bed so that for 
many miles from its mouth a large river may 
be very shoal and filled with bars. This is 



50 RIVERS AND THEIR MYSTERIES 

very common, especially on many of the big 
tropical rivers where the tides rise and fall 
and back the river up for over one hundred 
miles or to the first rapids. In such a case the 
entire length of river exposed to tidal action 
is really an estuary or mouth and the silt 
and sand is dropped all along its course until 
comparatively little remains to form a recog- 
nizable bar where the river finally joins the 
sea. 

The amount of material which a river car- 
ries with it depends also upon the character 
of the land through which it flows. If the 
country is rocky or gravelly the water may 
be very clear, for the sand and stones settle 
too rapidly to be carried any great distance 
while, on the other hand, if the country 
through which the river flows is loamy or 
clayey the water may carry a vast amount 
of material in suspension, for so slowly does 
such material settle that water dipped from 
some rivers and placed in a bottle will re- 
main cloudy or muddy for months. For 
this reason the larger and more sluggish 
rivers as a rule carry far more fine silt than 



RIVERS' MOUTHS AND DELTAS 51 

the smaller, swifter streams, for swift-flowing 
rivers usually indicate a rocky or gravelly 
district while sluggish rivers indicate a level 
district with deep loam or clay soil. 

Thus, if you examine the bar at the mouth 
of a swift-flowing river you will find it com- 
posed largely of clear sand, rounded pebbles 
and bits of rock, while the bar at or near 
the mouth of a large, sluggish river will be 
found to consist of finely-divided ooze or 
mud. 

So fine is this ooze and so slow to settle 
that much of it is carried far out to sea and 
is distributed over a wide area of the ocean's 
floor instead of in bars at the rivers' mouths. 
The waters of the Mississippi color the Gulf 
of Mexico for many miles beyond the river's 
mouth; the mud-colored waters of the Ori- 
noco tinge the Caribbean sea for more than 
one hundred miles north of its delta, and 
the mariner, sailing towards the Amazon, 
can tell when he is off the mouth of that 
mighty river by the color of the water hun- 
dreds of miles from land. In some cases, 
however, the chemicals in the salt water 



52 RIVERS AND THEIR MYSTERIES 

affect the silt and precipitates or settles it 
very rapidly as soon as it reaches the sea. 

But whether the river carries fine silt and 
mud or sand and stones the ocean and its 
shores near the river's mouth are greatly 
affected and often altered and these changes 
often, in turn, produce other changes at con- 
siderable distances which no one would 
imagine had anything to do with the rivers. 

The fine mud and silt, accumulating at the 
river's mouth, may be washed upon the 
nearby shores by the waves, or it may be 
carried by ocean currents for many miles, 
to be finally deposited upon some other part 
of the coast and thus a rocky or sandy beach 
may be transformed into an area of mud- 
flats, while the sand and gravel brought 
down by another river may be scattered and 
piled over a stretch of muddy coast and so 
alter it to sandy or gravelly beaches. In 
time, the mud or the gravel will accumulate 
and form bars, capes, islands or peninsulas 
and these, changing the direction of ocean 
currents, of tides and of beating surf may 
completely alter the coast line for many 



RIVERS' MOUTHS AND DELTAS 53 

miles. Moreover, the life, vegetation and 
character of the shores and the country for 
some distance inland may be completely de- 
pendent upon the rivers. Where the mud 
and silt gathers, animals which are fond of 
mud will find homes; sedges; certain salt 
water grasses and trees will find roothold 
and grow and gradually these will extend 
and protect the mud flats from washing away 
and in time a vast marsh or swamp may 
cover what was a bay or estuary of the sea. 
In the tropics where mangrove trees abound, 
such swamps are very common and often 
cover hundreds of square miles near the 
mouths of big rivers while, in the north, 
vast salt meadows or marshes are the usual 
result. On the other hand, a swamp may 
be destroyed and dry, firm land may result 
from sand and gravel brought down by a 
river being deposited upon it, thus destroy- 
ing the life and vegetation peculiar to muddy 
places, or again, a gravel bar may form a bar- 
rier to the waves and sea and a beautiful 
lagoon may be formed behind it or the space 
back of it may become filled with sand and 



54 RIVERS AND THEIR MYSTERIES 

gravel and transformed to a sandy area. In 
this case the stream may trickle across it in 
numerous rills, it may cut through it in rapids 
or cascades or it may seek a new outlet at 
one side, only to build up another barrier, to 
move yet further to one side and to repeat 
the operation until it has formed a steep, 




/ * j 

i. Delta formed by silt carried to sea. 

2. Delta formed by stream cutting through land. 

3. Delta formed by islands in river's mouth. 

4. Delta partly destroyed by docks (A). 

gravel shore extending for miles and with 
the river's mouth far distant from its orig- 
inal position. 

In a great many cases, too, the silt and 
sand carried to the sea by a river checks its 
own flow and acts as a sort of dam. Then 
the river, backing up behind this, forms a 
great lake-like estuary. From this, one or 
more channels may be cut through to the 
sea or the silt may be piled up in some spots 
and not in others — due to a variation in cur- 
rents or to some obstacle which checks the 



RIVERS' MOUTHS AND DELTAS 55 

flow of water and allows the silt to settle — 
and thus deltas are formed. Many large 
rivers possess deltas while others equally 
large have only a single mouth, for the for- 
mation of a delta depends, not upon the size 
of a river, but upon a great many conditions, 
or combinations of conditions, which may or 
may not occur where a river flows into the 
sea. 

Thus, if a river, even though it carries a 
great deal of silt, flows into a deep bay or 
gulf where there is a strong outflowing tide 
or other ocean current, the silt deposited by 
the stream may be carried away and out to 
sea as fast as it accumulates and there will be 
no bars built up to form a delta. Or again, 
several large rivers may flow into the same 
bay and the current from one may carry off 
the silt from the others. Such a condition 
as this exists on the coast of British Guiana 
where the Demerara and Essequibo Rivers 
join just before they reach the sea, with the 
result that neither stream has a delta and only 
a narrow bar across the river's mouth marks 
the silt deposited by the two great rivers. 



56 RIVERS AND THEIR MYSTERIES 

In nearby Dutch Guiana the big Surinam 
River and the Courantyne lack deltas, but 
in these cases the silt brought down by the 
streams is carried off by a strong ocean cur- 
rent which sweeps along the coast and yet, 
only a short distance away in Venezuela, we 
find the Orinoco with a complicated, many- 
mouthed delta, although the former streams 
carry proportionately a much larger percen- 
tage of silt than the Orinoco. 

Neither must we assume that deltas are 
confined to large rivers. We may often find 
very perfectly formed deltas at the mouths of 
very small streams, both where they flow into 
the sea and where they join other rivers. 
Oftentimes, too, a stream which does not pos- 
sess a delta may suddenly develop one for, 
like islands in rivers, a delta may be produced 
by some very slight obstruction in the river's 
mouth. Indeed, a great many deltas are 
formed by islands growing or building up at 
a river's mouth. I have just mentioned the 
Essequibo River as an example of a big river 
without a delta, but, within a comparatively 
short time, if conditions continue as at pres- 



RIVERS' MOUTHS AND DELTAS 57 

ent, the Essequibo will possess a delta. Near 
the mouth of this river are several large isl- 
ands, one of which, Dauntless Island, was 
formed by the stranding of a wrecked vessel, 
and these islands are very rapidly increasing 
in size and it is only a question of a few 
years until they join and extend to such an 
extent as to produce a true delta. Moreover, 
rocks, jetties, piers and other works of man 
are often built at or near a river's mouth and 
as these invariably affect the currents and the 
deposition of silt they may produce deltas 
where they did not naturally exist, or they 
may result in destroying a delta which ex- 
isted naturally. Thus, if a river has a mouth 
or delta with three channels and the currents 
are so altered by docks, piers or other works 
as to partially obstruct the flow of water 
through one or two of these, it may result 
in these becoming choked and filled with silt 
and debris until all the water flows through 
one channel which becomes enlarged and 
deepened thereby. On the other hand, an 
interruption caused by docks or other works 
on a river with a single mouth may result in 



58 RIVERS AND THEIR MYSTERIES 

the water backing up and finding other out- 
lets through sandy or muddy land and thus 
a delta will be formed. Very often, too, es- 
pecially if the river is large and navigable, the 
bar at its mouth, and the river for some dis- 
tance from the ocean, may be dredged or 
deepened to permit large vessels to enter and 
leave the river. This will invariably affect 
the flow of water, the deposit of silt and the 
character of the nearby shores and a very 
slight deepening of one of the mouths of a 
river with a delta may result in the bulk of the 
water flowing through the deepened channel 
and filling up of the others. 

In the past, a great deal of harm has been 
done by building jetties, piers, wharves and 
other obstructions, or by dredging channels, 
without realizing what results might follow, 
for, in order to be sure that the improve- 
ments made for man's benefit may not do 
more harm than good, it is essential that a 
deep study of the local conditions as to silt, 
currents, tides, freshets, character of shores 
and many other items should be made. Now- 
adays, engineers realize the importance of 



RIVERS' MOUTHS AND DELTAS 59 

such matters and our government does not 
permit anyone to dredge channels or build 
obstructions of any sort in navigable waters 
until competent engineers have been sent to 
examine into the conditions and make a 
report. 

And now comes the question as to 
what is and what is not a delta. In 
our geographies we were taught that a 
delta is a river's mouth divided by 
land into several openings, but this is a 
very hazy and unsatisfactory definition. A 
river for example, may divide into two or 
more branches some distance from the sea, 
but could we consider this as a delta? Again, 
a river may flow in a single channel to the 
sea and yet there may be small side channels 
or creeks or bayous which lead from the 
sea to the river near its mouth, but we would 
hardly be justified in considering this as a 
delta. Then, there are rivers with rocky, 
sandy or muddy islands of varying sizes sit- 
uated in their mouths and between and 
around which the rivers flow in well-marked 
channels, but no one would consider that be- 



60 RIVERS AND THEIR MYSTERIES 

cause of this such rivers had deltas. Indeed, 
it is a very difficult matter to define the word 
delta so that it covers all conditions. In 
a way, it all depends upon the relative 
amount of land and water. If the land be- 
tween the various channels is greater in area 
than the water we may safely consider it 
a delta whereas, if the water occupies more 
space than the land, it is not a true delta, 
regardless of whether the river itself has 
formed land — projecting into the sea, as is 
the case with the Mississippi, or whether it 
has cut through low-lying land as in the 
case of the Orinoco, the Nile and many other 
rivers. 

But whether the river has a delta or not, 
the mouth is always a fascinating and in- 
teresting spot; the place where the river — 
after traveling hundreds or thousands of 
miles, comes to the end of its journey and 
loses itself in the ocean; the spot where 
fresh water and salt water join, where the 
river's life and work and purpose are accom- 
plished and the mighty sea takes charge, 
the place where countless craft leave the 



RIVERS' MOUTHS AND DELTAS 61 

tranquil waters of the stream, and tossing 
to the ocean swell, set sail for far-distant 
lands, and the spot where the teeming animal 
and plant life of the river is replaced by 
the equally abundant but totally different life 
of the ocean. 



Chapter IV 

RIVER LIFE 

WHEREVER we find a river, or even a 
stream, no matter how large or how small, 
we will find that it supports a fauna and 
flora of its own, a teeming little world of 
animal and plant life, many forms of which 
are found nowhere else. Moreover, many 
large rivers, and even some small ones, pos- 
sess certain species of animal and plant life 
which are peculiar to themselves and are 
never found in other streams, even a short dis- 
tance away. Where such conditions exist we 
may be very sure that the stream is very 
ancient, that through untold ages the river 
has flowed in nearly the same course and has 
been separated by land from other streams or 
lakes. But as a rule, the rivers and streams in 
one district have plant and animal life com- 
mon to all and, in addition, many species 
which are also found in or about lakes, ponds, 

62 



RIVER LIFE 63 

swamps and springs, while certain salt- 
water forms of life also occur. 

This is to be expected, for rivers travel 
through a great variety of country, they 
drain ponds, swamps and lakes, they are fed 
by springs; tributaries from far distant 
places flow into them and as they eventually 
reach the sea there is no reason why salt 
water species which can live in fresh water 
should not frequent the streams. Even in 
those rivers which possess a peculiar fauna 
of their own we will also find species com- 
mon to other streams and for this reason 
rivers have had a vast influence upon the 
spread and distribution of plant and animal 
life. Moreover, many river plants and ani- 
mals can exist in salt water and are common 
to both, even though they are normally 
fresh water or salt water species and so the 
rivers have even influenced the life of the 
ocean. 

Aquatic animals and plants are 
not the only forms of life which are carried 
long distances and are distributed by rivers. 
Seeds, bulbs, shoots and fruits of plants may 



64 RIVERS AND THEIR MYSTERIES 

fall into the stream and be carried thousands 
of miles before they are cast ashore to find 
roothold and grow. Indeed, many of them 
will even withstand immersion in salt 
water and thus, after having been trans- 
ported for countless miles across a country 
they may reach the sea and be carried by 
wind and waves to far distant parts of the 
coast, or even to foreign shores, where they 
may grow and increase and eventually be- 
come of great importance and utility to man 
or may even influence the character of the 
country. Thus the coconut, which today 
is found on every tropical seacoast through- 
out the world, was undoubtedly first carried 
to the sea by some rr tr er. Few people realize 
the stupendous distances which trees, seeds, 
nuts or other floating materials may be car- 
ried. I have seen white birch stumps washed 
upon the coasts of the West Indies and South 
America and branches and roots of tropical 
trees quite frequently drift north and are cast 
upon the shores of New England. Thus 
you easily can imagine that a seed or nut, 
dropping into the upper waters of the Ama- 



RIVER LIFE 65 

zon, might find its way to the sea and hence 
to Africa, the West Indies or even to our 
Southern States and yet, after its long jour- 
ney, find roothold and grow in its new home. 

We know that many plants have been dis- 
tributed in this way and while countless mil- 
lions of seeds and similar drifting things 
are destroyed or lost or die long before they 
are cast up in a locality suited to their needs, 
and while many millions more are stranded 
where the conditions are such that they can- 
not grow, yet out of the incalculable bil- 
lions of such things which are yearly carried 
by rivers to the sea, a few must of necessity 
reach congenial spots while yet alive. 

The same holds true, though in lesser de- 
gree, with forms of animal life. Insects, 
snails, crabs, crustaceans, reptiles and even 
mammals are often carried along by rivers. 
They may be upon some log or stump or 
branch which falls into the stream, and, 
being unable to swim or afraid to take to 
the water, remain upon their natural raft 
until fortune favors and they are swept to 
the shore. Here, if conditions suit them. 



66 RIVERS AND THEIR MYSTERIES 

they thrive and multiply and in time add an- 
other species to the local fauna. But as ani- 
mal life is not so adaptable to new climates, 
conditions and surroundings as vegetable life 
and as in order to progagate their species 
most animals must be present in both male 
and female form, whereas the majority of 
plants comprise both sexes in one flower, 
the chances for animal life being spread by 
rivers is much less than for plant life. 

Nevertheless, there are certain species and 
orders of animal life which live in com- 
munities and these, if carried by a river to 
a new country, might spread with great ra- 
pidity. Such are the ants, the wasps and 
bees, many species of caterpillars, and many 
other insects. Moreover, the very habits of 
many such creatures add to their chances of 
being transported to new localities. They 
usually dwell in dead or dying wood and 
such trees as they inhabit are far more likely 
to be broken off and to be carried by streams 
than are sound trees. In addition, when they 
are cast upon a strange land they are not 
compelled to adapt themselves to new sur- 



RIVER LIFE 67 

roundings immediately, but can continue liv- 
ing in their old homes until they have located 
new quarters. Neither must we assume that 
only those forms of life which thrive beside 
the stream are carried by the current to new 
homes. When the river rises or floods and 
covers large areas of surrounding country it 
often picks up drift material from many 
miles away from its banks, and thus, forms 
of life which normally occur far from a 
stream may become common along the banks 
or may be carried to some distant spot where 
the river again overflows and drops its load 
as it recedes. 

If we examine the apparently lifeless and 
uninteresting bits of drift which we find 
upon a river, we will be greatly surprised 
to find what a quantity of life it supports. 
If it is a log or branch we will find scores 
of insects hidden here and there; aphids and 
scale-insects upon the leaves or bark of the 
twigs, spiders still weaving their gossamer 
webs to capture stray flies or gnats; busv, 
hurrying ants ever seeking for some road that 
leads elsewhere than to water; perchance a 



68 RIVERS AND THEIR MYSTERIES 

caterpillar or two hungrily munching at the 
partly withered leaves. Then, if we tear off 
some of the bark and expose the wood be- 
neath, we will find little wood-engraver 
beetles, ghostly "shiners," small centipedes 
and millipedes, probably a few terrestrial 
crustaceans, the grubs or larvae of beetles 
and borers and very likely some cockroaches. 
Often, too, we will find slugs and land snails 
and, upon the under surface, where damp or 
submerged, we will discover fresh-water 
snails, perhaps some fresh-water crustaceans 
and, like as not, the larvae of aquatic insects. 
If we approach the drifting log cautiously 
we will usually surprise turtles and perhaps 
frogs basking in the sun or we may even find 
a land salamander or a small snake resting in 
some cozy crevice. Sometimes, too, we may 
see a squirrel, a chipmunk or a wild mouse 
or rat upon the flotsam. All this little world 
of wild life being carried safely and rapidly 
on its way is but one of millions of similar 
little worlds which the great river transports 
each year. Perchance it may travel but a 
few miles and its inhabitants may find them- 



RIVER LIFE 69 

selves in a district where there are many 
more of their kind and where everything is 
familiar, or again, they may travel far and 
find themselves at last in a strange land 
where, unable to secure the required food or 
habitat to keep them alive, or where new 
and unfamiliar enemies are met, they perish 
miserably. But the chances are, that if they 
reach a new district where their species have 
hitherto been unknown, that they will find 
fewer enemies than in their original homes 
and thus will increase and multiply even 
more rapidly than before. 

If we should examine the bed of the river 
we would find it supported a vast amount 
of life; the water itself is the home of 
myriads of still different creatures and the 
banks are the homes of many more. Aside 
from fish and eels, turtles and frogs, newts 
and salamanders, the water is the home of 
countless aquatic insects. Long-legged, 
water-boatmen skip and slither across its 
surface in sheltered coves and bends, shiny 
black and green water beetles hurriedly dash 
off or dive to safe retreats at our approach, 



7 o RIVERS AND THEIR MYSTERIES 

great, ugly sharp-clawed water-bugs lurk in 
the water-weeds and slime close to the banks 
or in the shallows and, if it is a tropical or 
semi-tropical river we will find alligators, 
crocodiles or manatees making the waters 
their homes. 

If the bottom is rocky we would find life 
on the river's bed rather scant, but even then 
we would be able to discover caddice-fly 
larvae in their quaint tube-like houses built 
of tiny pebbles, bits of twigs or other odds and 
ends; we would find dragon-fly larvae with 
their big, staring eyes dashing after any un- 
fortunate little creature that came near; 
under the water-worn pebbles we would see 
the odd "dobsons" or "helgramites"; in crev- 
ices of the rocks or sheltered under boulders 
we would find spotted newts or salamanders 
and crawling slowly about, we would see 
many species of fresh-water snails with dull- 
brown or green fresh-water mussels resting 
on sandy patches. 

If, on the other hand, the bottom of the 
river should be muddy or sandy we would 
find all these creatures and many more — 



RIVER LIFE 71 

hellbenders or mud-puppies perhaps — mud 
turtles, annelids or aquatic worms, mud- 
loving snails, fresh water sponges and hy- 
droids; crustaceans of many kinds and the 
larvae of many species of aquatic insects. 
Along the river's banks dwell frogs and tur- 
tles, we will find upon the stems of reeds and 
grasses the dried and empty skins of dragon- 
fly, May-fly and caddice-fly larvae where 
they have crawled forth from their watery 
home to split open and allow the winged in- 
sects to escape and fly about; we will find 
the holes of mink and muskrats, or, if fortune 
favors, we may even catch glimpses of the 
owners swimming in the nearby water and, 
if in a wild portion of the river's course, we 
may find the slide of an otter in the muddy 
bank. 

If we travel down the stream towards 
the sea we will find that the animals of the 
river and its shores, and the plants as well, 
gradually change; that new species are con- 
stantly replacing the others and that by the 
time the sea is reached we have left true 
fresh-water forms behind. As we approach 



72 RIVERS AND THEIR MYSTERIES 

the limit of tide-water and the stream be- 
comes brackish, coarse marsh grasses, wild 
rice, mallows, stiff sedges and similar plants 
will take the place of the ferns, soft grasses, 
blue flags, dainty flowers and drooping vines 
which covered the shores far up the stream. 
The insect larvae, with the exception of 
certain dragon-flies, will disappear; fresh- 
water snails and mussels will give way to 
salt water forms. Crabs and shrimp will 
become more abundant; terrapin will take 
the place of mud-turtles, our friends the 
salamanders and most of the frogs will be 
left behind and while the mink and musk- 
rat may still have their burrows along the 
banks we will find that the fish upon which 
they feed are very different. Far up the 
river, near its headwaters where it ran 
swiftly over stones and dashed in cataracts 
over ledges, were trout and dace; further 
down, in the calmer waters with their sandy 
bottom, we caught pickerel, perch, sun-fish 
and bass; still further downstream, as the 
river widened and deepened and the waters 
took on a muddy hue, we found garpike, cat- 



RIVER LIFE 73 

fish and mullet and now, as we approach 
the sea and the river's mouth, we still find 
catfish and mullet and, in addition, blennies 
and chub, besides various species of true, 
salt-water fish. 

But throughout the course of the river, if 
our investigations are conducted in the right 
season, we will find salmon or shad or stur- 
geon according to the locality of our river 
and we will learn that these fish, although 
denizens of the ocean, go up the rivers to 
lay their eggs or spawn and that they are 
equally at home in fresh or salt water. In 
fact, it is hard to say whether these 
fish are really ocean or river fish. For 
all we know, their ancestors may have been 
denizens of rivers and, having by chance 
found their way to the sea, adapted them- 
selves to an ocean life, but with a dormant 
instinct leading them each spring to ascend 
the rivers to the cradle of their race. Occa- 
sionally we find spots where these fish have 
been cut off from salt water and have be- 
come thoroughly at home in lakes or ponds. 
But there are many species which cannot live 



74 RIVERS AND THEIR MYSTERIES 

even in slightly brackish water while others 
cannot live where the water is fresh. As a 
result, the species which occur at or near the 
mouths of large rivers are limited, for a 
large river will so freshen the sea for a long 
distance that strictly ocean forms of life can- 
not exist in the vicinity. 

It is the same way, to lesser extent per- 
haps, with the bottom and shore animals and 
plants. A great many fresh-water animals, 
such as many snails, turtles, crustaceans, etc., 
can and do exist in brackish or even salt 
water and there are also many salt-water 
forms which seem to get on and thrive just 
as well where the water is fairly fresh. But 
just as is the case with certain species of fish, 
many of the true marine animals cannot live 
in water which is the least freshened by 
rivers. We will not find many of the star- 
fishes on the shores near the mouth of a big 
river, or along its banks near its mouth, and 
neither will we find many sea-anemones, sea- 
cucumbers, jelly-fish or corals where the 
water is brackish. Certain plants and trees, 
such as willows, cypress, coconut and other 



RIVER LIFE 75 

palms, mangroves, pines, cedars, cattails, 
many grasses and sedges, bamboos, wild 
roses, many shrubs and vines and cacti thrive 
equally well beside either fresh, brackish or 
salt water. Other forms of vegetation, such 
as our common deciduous trees, many tuber- 
ous and bulbous plants, ferns, alders, elders, 
lilies and other plants which are typical of 
river banks and the borders of lakes cannot 
withstand salt or brackish water and die al- 
most immediately if their roots are flooded 
by salt water. 

Of all the various forms of life which we 
find along rivers, perhaps the birds are the 
least typical, but even among the birds we 
will find, if we observe closely, that some are 
true river birds, others land birds which pre- 
fer to dwell near rivers and others are sea or 
shore birds, which follow the rivers' courses 
far inland, either in search of food or to rear 
their young. Perhaps the most noticeable 
birds which are ever present about rivers 
are the swallows and yet, with the exception 
of the bank-swallows or sand-martins which 
build their nests in burrows in the river 



76 RIVERS AND THEIR MYSTERIES 

banks, swallows cannot be considered as river 
birds, for they seek the streams merely to 
secure the insects which abound upon 
or near the surface of the water. Ducks, 
geese and other swimming birds may 
be denizens of the rivers and yet they do 
not confine themselves to the streams but 
spend much of their lives on salt water. 
The same is true of waders or shore birds 
and of many land birds which we are wont 
to associate with rivers, merely because we 
are accustomed to seeing them along the 
streams. 

But a species of bird may be a typical 
river bird in the north and yet never be seen 
near a river in the tropics, or vice versa. 
Thus, our red-winged blackbirds, our swamp 
sparrows and marsh wrens, several of our 
warblers and various other land birds are 
ever present inhabitants of the marshes, 
swamps, woods or brush along our streams 
and yet, in their winter homes in the tropics, 
some of these are never seen near rivers, but 
are found on open, dry, prairie lands. Even 
our lovely water-thrushes which are only 



RIVER LIFE 77 

found in the north beside running water and 
whose nests are placed beside the streams 
they love, desert their usual haunts and fre- 
quent the seashores and brackish mangrove 
swamps of the West Indies during the win- 
ter. This is to be expected with the ma- 
jority of birds, for these creatures are mobile, 
they inhabit the spots best suited to their 
needs for the time being and while water of 
some sort is essential to certain species, yet 
it makes but little difference whether it is 
fresh, salt or brackish. The red-wing is just 
as much at home in the salt meadows of the 
coast as in the alder swamp that fringes an 
interior lake or stream; the song sparrow 
trills as merrily upon some sea-girt islet as 
upon his swaying weed-stem beside the 
brook; the night heron finds crabs and clams 
just as good eating as baby turtles and fresh 
water mussels, and the various ducks and 
waders find food as abundant and as palat- 
able in salt water as in fresh. 

There are species of birds which appear to 
be true river birds and are never found else- 
where, while others seem to be confined to 



78 RIVERS AND THEIR MYSTERIES 

fresh water and others to salt. The water- 
ouzels of our mountain streams of the west, 
and its cousins in tropical America, invari- 
ably haunt the rapid-flowing, tumbling 
brooks and streams. The short-billed marsh 
wren always builds its nest and lives its life 
in swamps or meadows near fresh water, 
while its cousin the long-billed marsh wren 
is just as firmly wedded to the salt marshes; 
the beautiful and graceful sun-bittern is 
never seen save beside flowing streams or 
rivers of the tropics; the odd, long-toed 
jacanas are strictly fresh-water birds and 
many species of todys, trogans, motmots and 
jacamars of tropical America are found 
only along the banks of the rivers. Last 
and perhaps most interesting of all, are the 
remarkable hoatzins of northern South 
America — strange, primitive birds which 
form a sort of connecting link with their 
reptilian ancestors and which are restricted 
to certain definite areas on certain rivers and 
are found nowhere else in the world. From 
all this it will be seen that rivers have a very- 
great influence upon both animal and plant 



RIVER LIFE 79 

life, but it is on the whole an influence of 
distribution and not of restriction. Just as 
islands tend to develop species of animals 
and plants peculiar to themselves, because 
they are cut off from other localities; so 
rivers tend to break down barriers and to 
distribute species far and near because they 
connect far distant places. Just as civiliza- 
tion, progress, manufactures, commerce, 
trade and industry have followed the courses 
of the great rivers, so too have animals and 
plants spread from the far interior to the 
ocean and from the ocean to the head- 
waters of the streams through the countless 
ages since the first river found its devious 
way across the new-made land to the sea. 



Chapter V 

HOW RIVERS SERVE MAN 

I HAVE already mentioned that rivers have 
been of great importance to man in many- 
ways, but it is very interesting to see just 
how rivers have served mankind and just 
how man has harnessed and controlled them 
and has made them serve him. 

We will also find that while man has al- 
tered rivers and has forced them to his will, 
yet the rivers have also compelled man to 
adapt himself to them and have influenced 
him and his works just as they have influ- 
enced the land and the sea and animal and 
plant life. 

As highways, the rivers first attracted man 
and, throughout the ages since the primitive 
savage first embarked on his floating log and 
crossed a river, the human race has found 
rivers of the utmost service for this purpose. 

80 



HOW RIVERS SERVE MAN 81 

Even today, the great rivers of the world 
teem with shipping and are alive with com- 
merce, despite railways, motor cars and other 
modern means of transportation. Vessels of 
every size, from tiny skiffs to great steam- 
ships, ply upon the various rivers of the 
world and yet, despite the differences in cus- 
toms, in conditions, in races, in cargoes and 
in other matters, wherever we find much 
river traffic we find typical river craft, boats 
which have been developed and evolved to 
suit river conditions. And very often, even 
in widely separated parts of the world, we 
will find that river boats are much alike and 
are easily recognized. Upon the Mississippi 
and our western rivers are the big, flat-bot- 
tomed, stern-wheelers — steamers which can 
run on a "heavy dew" as the saying goes; 
but these are not peculiar to our own country 
and we will find very similar craft upon 
the Orinoco, the Magdalena, and the rivers 
in various parts of Asia, Europe and Africa. 
The palatial, swift, side-wheel steamboats of 
our Hudson have their counterparts on the 
Thames, the Seine, the Elbe and many an- 



82 RIVERS AND THEIR MYSTERIES 

other great river. Canal boats, which might 
well have come down the Hudson, may be 
seen along the Loire, the Rhone, the Thames, 
the Elbe or the Seine. The roughly made, 
box-like flat-boat of our southern rivers, with 
its happy, singing darkey crew, is not pecu- 
liar to the rivers of Dixie Land, for if we 
travel to the great rivers of South America, 
or to certain African streams, we will find 
that similar conditions have developed simi- 
lar craft and in almost exact duplicates of our 
southern flat-boats we will find bronze- 
skinned Indians or turbanned Arabs drifting 
down the rivers with the current. 

On every great river we will find 
rafts. They may be the enormous lumber 
rafts of the Columbia, the log rafts of the 
Mississippi, the rafts of bamboo of the 
Orient, the rafts of hollow tree trunks of 
tropical rivers or the rafts of cork-like balsa 
wood, with heavy logs of mahogany, lignum 
vitae or other rare woods slung to them, 
such as we see upon the rivers of South and 
Central America. But while in many cases 
there is a strong resemblance between the 



HOW RIVERS SERVE MAN 83 

river craft of various lands and races, yet 
there are certain types of river boats which 
are peculiar to certain countries and certain 
rivers. An Arab dhow with its high ends 
and its immense latteen sails, has no coun- 
terpart in any other portion of the world. 
The Chinese houseboats and sampans, in 
which countless thousands of Chinese dwell 
and pass their lives, are typical of the great 
rivers of their nation. Upon the Orinoco 
we find odd craft with high masts bearing 
huge sails far aloft in order to catch the wind 
above the river banks. England's rivers 
teem with punts and wherries which seem 
out of place amid any other surroundings. 
Guiana's coorials and batteaux are peculiar to 
the country and admirably adapted to the 
rapid-filled rivers within its borders. The 
dug-out cayucas of Panama, with their flat- 
tened ends on which the natives stand as 
they pole their craft over the shallow riffles 
and bars, are distinctive river boats. In the 
orient, especially on the rivers of the Holy 
Land, we find strange, circular, skin boats 
exactly like those used in Biblical days and 



84 RIVERS AND THEIR MYSTERIES 

the Welshman still uses his plaited reed or 
willow coracle which he carries on his back 
as a turtle carries his shell. 

Many of these craft seem very queer, very 
clumsy, very primitive or very badly de- 
signed, but just as the seaman thinks his par- 
ticular type of boat is the staunchest, fastest, 
most seaworthy type of boat in the world, 
so the river man thinks his craft the only 
boat suited to his river and his needs. More- 
over, he is no doubt perfectly right in his 
claims, for in nearly every case, where we 
find a distinctive or peculiar craft, we will 
find, if we investigate, that there are good 
and sufficient reasons for it. Such boats 
have been developed and evolved through 
the experience of countless thousands of men 
through many centuries and while, today, 
the reason for certain forms or peculiarities 
may not be so apparent, yet did we but know 
all the conditions of the country or the river 
where they exist we would readily see why 
they are as they are, and we would under- 
stand why a boat, which would be quite out 
of place and almost useless on one river, 



HOW RIVERS SERVE MAN 85 

might be the only type of boat which would 
serve its purpose on some other river. If a 
stream is shallow and with many bars a boat 
must be of very light draft in order to navi- 
gate it. If, as is the case with many of the 
big rivers of South America, the boatmen 
do not depend upon the wind, but upon the 
rising and falling tides, to travel up and 
down stream, their boats must be as broad 
and square as possible in order to present 
a better surface to the current which carries 
them along. 

Where there are innumerable, rock- 
filled rapids to be run a boat with a 
keel or with a flat bottom would be con- 
stantly getting hard and fast on the rocks 
and hence the spoon-bottomed, keelless Gui- 
ana boats have been evolved. To stand in the 
rounded bottom of a dugout canoe and han- 
dle a long and heavy pole is a ticklish 
balancing feat and to give a better purchase 
to the men's feet and a flat surface on which 
to stand the Panamanians have hit upon the 
plan of constructing their cayucas with plat- 
forms at either end. Where narrow chan- 



86 RIVERS AND THEIR MYSTERIES 

nels and shoal water must be navigated, fre- 
quent portages made and rapids run the 
light, strong, birch canoe has no equal, while 
the Indians of South America have devised 
an equally useful and handy craft for use 
on their rivers which form a maze of water- 
ways through their country but which are 
separated by dense jungles or high moun- 
tains making portages impossible. These 
conditions have brought about the invention 
and universal use of the "woodskin," a buoy- 
ant, staunch form of canoe which can be 
built by two men inside of three hours. 
Cutting down a straight purple-heart or 
similar tree about two feet in diameter, the 
Indians strip off a section of bark from ten 
to twenty feet in length. A short space at 
each end of this bark roll is then thinned 
down and the ends drawn together by means 
of strong lianas or "bush ropes." Sticks or 
thwarts are then forced in between the sides 
and are lashed in position with lianas and 
the woodskin is complete. Very often the 
Indians will construct a score or more of 
these primitive canoes in making a single 




< 

Q 
w 
o 

Oh 

w 

Q 

O 



HOW RIVERS SERVE MAN 87 

journey, using one on each stream they come 
to and abandoning it when they cut across 
to the next stream through the forest. Not 
only do the Indians use them for such short 
trips where an extemporized craft is re- 
quired, but many tribes find them the most 
useful and handy of boats and use them ex- 
clusively. But where the woodskin is to be 
made for permanent use it is made more 
carefully and of much larger size. I have 
often seen a Carib woodskin laden with a 
dozen men, women and children and so 
low in the water that the Indians appeared 
to be seated on the surface of the river itself. 
The only drawback to the woodskin is the 
fact that it is open at the ends and in rapids 
the water often swashes in. But the naked 
Indians do not mind this and, moreover, 
what runs in at one end soon splashes out 
at the other. 

But to continue. On a river several miles 
in width but with high banks cutting off the 
wind close to the water, ordinary sails would 
be useless and so the Venezuelans place the 
sails of their river boats near the summits 



88 RIVERS AND THEIR MYSTERIES 

of their masts. A large craft which must 
at times be rowed, but which is used where 
there are light winds, must be easily pro- 
pelled by oars or sail and must have huge 
sails to catch what little wind there may be 
and so the dhow came into existence. Along 
the backwaters of the Thames no small craft 
would serve so well as the punt or wherry, 
although they would be useless in many of 
our rivers. Among his native fens, ponds 
and small streams the Welshman's basket- 
like coracle is a most useful and 
handy craft and the Astrakhan-hatted 
Persian or Armenian finds, in his circular 
boat, a craft which takes up little space and 
is capable of carrying enormous loads from 
riverside to riverside. In John Chinaman's 
brightly painted picturesque sampan or 
house-boat we find a miniature junk 
adapted to use in shoal water and our 
familiar centerboard catboats, sloops and 
schooners were developed and invented 
to enable them to sail safely over sand 
bars and to enter the mouths of our rivers 
of the Atlantic coast. 



HOW RIVERS SERVE MAN 89 

We must not forget the manner in 
which rivers serve as highways for the lum- 
bermen. Were it not for rivers, lumbering 
would be a difficult, and in fact, an impossi- 
ble task in many places. From the far north- 
ern woods, from the deep swamps, from the 
vast forests of the tropics, the logs are floated 
down the streams to the mills or to shipping 
points and in many logging districts the 
spring drive is a marvelous sight. The 
rivers, swollen by melting snows and spring 
rains, are filled with the great logs and 
pitching, tossing, jumping and crashing they 
go tearing down the torrent, thrown about 
like matchsticks; whirled and upended and 
carried at express train speed. At times these 
thousands of logs jam and then the loggers 
must find the key log and dislodge it or else 
dynamite the jam to set it free, and at such 
times the men exhibit marvelous feats of skill 
and daring, balancing themselves on rolling, 
swaying logs; riding the tree trunks that 
jump and rear like bucking broncos and 
leaping from log to log as they swirl by. 
It is a sight never to be forgotten and to 



9 o RIVERS AND THEIR MYSTERIES 

these men the rivers mean everything, as 
without them, all their hard and dangerous 
toil would come to naught. 

Just as it is impossible to tell when man 
first discovered that the rivers were easier 
highways for travel than the forest trails, so 
it is impossible to say when man first learned 
that the steadily flowing rivers could be har- 
nessed and made to work for his own good. 
But undoubtedly it was many hundreds or 
thousands of years after true canoes and 
boats had come into use before the first 
water-wheel was made, for man was well 
along the road to civilization before he dis- 
covered the secret of the wheel in any form 
and this was probably the greatest single 
invention ever made by a human being. Per- 
chance, the first water-wheel was a mere toy 
used by some prehistoric boy, or perhaps, 
some man, who had constructed a wheel with 
buckets at the end of its spokes to be used 
in lifting water from a stream, as is still 
done in many lands, noticed that it revolved 
by the current of the river and put his acci- 
dental discovery to use. But regardless of 



HOW RIVERS SERVE MAN 91 

the origin of the water-wheel, its use became 
world-wide and for many centuries it held 
its own as the cheapest form of power, just 
as the rivers held their own as the cheapest 
means of transportation. And just as river 
traffic still remains the most economical form 
of transportation in many parts of the world, 
so, in many places, water power is still the 
most economical source of energy. Indeed, 
were man to harness all the great rivers or 
cataracts of the world and thus create power 
which could be transmitted for long dis- 
tances by wireless there would be no need of 
coal, oil, gasolene, wood or other fuel for 
generating power, for there is more than 
enough water power going to waste to oper- 
ate every mill and factory, run every railway 
train, steamship and motor car, light every 
electric light and furnish all the energy re- 
quired in the entire world. 

We have harnessed a few of our large 
rivers, we have utilized the titanic power of 
Niagara, but all over the world there are 
rivers and cataracts capable of developing 
millions of times as much power as Niagara. 



92 RIVERS AND THEIR MYSTERIES 

There are the enormous Nyanza and Zam- 
besi falls in Africa, the stupendous Iguassu 
falls of the Brazilian border, Kaieteur in 
Guiana with its 820 foot drop and countless 
other mighty falls in Asia, Africa and South 
America all wasting their terrific power but 
which, some day, will be harnessed and con- 
trolled and made to do their part of the 
world's work. 

Unquestionably the first water-wheel was 
a most simple affair, a crude wheel with flat 
paddles so placed that the current of the 
stream flowed against the paddles submerged 
in the water. Such a wheel, known techni- 
cally as an "undershot" wheel, would work 
very well where the water flowed steadily 
and swiftly and it was an easy step for man 
to build a dam or barrier to divert a portion 
of the current to his wheel and thus increase 
the amount of water and its speed. Then, 
if he were an observant chap, he would no- 
tice that where the river flowed over a rocky 
barrier in the form of cataract or rapids the 
current was swifter and he would place a 
wheel where the falling water struck upon 



HOW RIVERS SERVE MAN 93 

its paddles. But as waterfalls were not al- 
ways available it would dawn upon him that 
he could construct an artificial fall and hav- 
ing done this by means of a mill-dam, he 
would evolve the "back-pitch" and "over- 
shot" type of wheels. Then, having once 
solved the principle of hydraulic power, the 
successive developments of the water-wheel, 
through the spatter-wheels, tub-wheels and 
other forms to the modern turbine would 
come as a matter of course. 

But here, once more, we find that the 
rivers have influenced man's inventions and 
works quite as much as man has influenced 
the rivers. The modern, compact turbine 
has been evolved through the necessity of 
using water as power where there is com- 
paratively little fall (although high-pressure 
turbines are also used), and through man's 
ceaseless ambition to produce results in the 
most economical manner; but where there 
is an abundance of water, plenty of fall and 
comparatively light work the old mill-wheels 
of the overshot, back-pitch or undershot types 
answer every purpose and are still in use. 



94 RIVERS AND THEIR MYSTERIES 

But regardless of the type of wheel used, 
dams were essential in order to secure a 
steady supply of water and an even head or 
pressure and while, at first sight, the dams 
appear to influence and affect the rivers but 
slightly and very locally, yet their effects 
are really far-reaching and the bigger the 
dam and the river the greater are the effects 
produced. 

Although the same amount of water 
must eventually find its way to the 
sea after a dam is built as before, yet the 
flow and current is interrupted and changed 
and this change affects, to some degree, the 
entire course of the river below the dam and 
even the mouth of the river where it reaches 
the sea. A single dam far up a stream may 
completely alter its bed, its course and its 
character, while above the dam, the effects 
may be even greater. The water, backing up 
to form the mill-pond, will allow its sus- 
pended silt to settle and thus less sand, mud 
and other material will be deposited below 
the dam. Drift, reaching the mill-pond will 
end its travels there and never reach the sea 



HOW RIVERS SERVE MAN 95 

or the lower parts of the river as before. 
The water, spreading out above the dam will 
flood country hitherto dry and numerous 
swamps, brooks and even other rivers may 
be formed where it overflows its boundaries 
and finds low places and hollows. Certain 
forms of plant and animal life will be killed 
by the rising water and other water-loving 
forms will take their places. Salt-water fish, 
coming up the river to spawn, will find their 
way barred and thus their kind will dis- 
appear from the upper reaches of the stream 
and in a hundred ways the life and character 
of the river and its surroundings may be 
altered. 

I have said that dams are essential in order 
to operate any type of water mill, but there 
are exceptions. Occasionally one may still 
find an old-fashioned undershot water-wheel 
turned by the current flowing by and with 
no dam or mill-race while on the Danube 
we find the oddest of odd mills. Instead of 
being built on the shore and having their 
water wheels permanently fixed in one spot 
the mills of the Danube are built upon huge 



96 RIVERS AND THEIR MYSTERIES 

floats and are anchored in mid-stream so 
that the passing current of the river turns 
their wheels. 

Somewhat on the same principle are the 
fish traps used on the Columbia and other 
rivers. These, like the Danube mills, are 
anchored in the streams where their huge 
wheels revolve with the current and turn 
great wheel-like nets which scoop up the 
swarming fish and dump them into bins. 
Dams, however, are very useful things and 
whether man first learned to make them by 
watching the beavers, or whether he invented 
them independently, the discovery was a most 
important one and enabled him to utilize 
rivers in many ways which otherwise would 
have been impossible. 

One of the most important and valuable 
of the uses to which man had put rivers is 
that of watering or irrigating his crops and 
fields. Primitive man no doubt carried the 
water from the rivers to his crops by means 
of pots and jars or even in skin sacks. Then, 
after many centuries, he learned to lift or 
pump the water by means of a rude wheel 



HOW RIVERS SERVE MAN 97 

with buckets attached to its spokes, a method 
still in use in many parts of the world. But 
these wheels were clumsy and turned by man 
power and it must have been a marvelous 
event when the water-wheel was discovered 
and the river's own power was utilized to 
lift or pump the water and distribute it over 
the fields by means of ditches. Nowadays, 
irrigation has become a science and stupen- 
dous dams are built and millions of gallons of 
water stored in vast lakes to be used in irri- 
gating thousands of acres. In our great 
Southwest, irrigation has transformed vast 
deserts to rich and fertile lands bearing enor- 
mous crops; in California the fruit orchards 
and farms are dependent upon irrigation; 
along the Nile no crops could be raised if it 
were not for the river water which is led 
across the thirsty land and it has even been 
proposed to irrigate the Sahara and trans- 
form it to a stupendous garden. 

Many rivers, too, carry vast wealth hidden 
beneath their waters. As they break down 
and wear away the rocks and earth tiny par- 
ticles of gold and other heavy metals are 



98 RIVERS AND THEIR MYSTERIES 

released and, being far heavier than the sand 
and rock, these settle to the bottom and ac- 
cumulate. Gradually, through the ages, these 
deposits of precious metals increase until the 
gravels become so rich that they are worth 
mining and are known as placers. Gold, 
platinum, tin, and many precious stones oc- 
cur in placers and in many localities they 
are the richest of mines and the chief sources 
of the metals or gems. All the Brazilian 
diamonds, the rubies and sapphires of the 
Orient, the platinum deposits of Russia and 
Columbia and gold mines in many parts of 
the world are placers. Moreover, even 
where the accumulations of precious stones 
or metals are not sufficiently rich to be 
mined, still they are of great value to the 
miner and prospector. By examining the 
gravel and rocks in a river or stream the 
prospector can determine if the stream cuts 
through a mineralized rock or a vein of ore 
or a deposit of gems. Then, if he finds bits 
of ore or precious stones or metal which are 
known as "float," he can follow up the 
stream and by constantly sampling the bot- 



HOW RIVERS SERVE MAN 99 

torn gravels and bits of broken rock he can 
determine the spot from which the float has 
come and thus locate the deposit. 

In many places, especially in the tropics 
where there is dense jungle, this is the sim- 
plest and only sure way of locating mineral 
deposits, and, throughout the world, pros- 
pectors take advantage of streams for this 
purpose. You may wonder how the rich 
deposits of precious metals or gems which 
have accumulated as placers are recovered 
by the miners. There are several ways in 
which this is done. The simplest and most 
primitive method is to dig up the gravel and 
sand from the river bed and shores and "pan" 
it by twirling it back and forth with water 
in an iron or wooden basin or pan. This 
separates the heavy metals or gems from the 
lighter gravel and mud and the latter, by 
a peculiar twist of the pan, are thrown off 
over the edge, until at last, only the heavy 
metals or gems remain. Where placers are 
very rich or are far from civilization this 
method is often used, but more frequently 
the values are recovered by means of sluices 



ioo RIVERS AND THEIR MYSTERIES 

or rockers. Sluices are wooden troughs with 
cross pieces or "riffles" fastened along the 
bottom. The sluices are placed in or beside 
a stream so that water pours through them 
and the sand and gravel containing the metal 
or gems is shovelled into them. The lighter 
material is carried off by the water, but the 
heavy metals or gems sink to the bottom and 
lodge behind the riffles. Sometimes, the 
spaces back of the riffles are filled with quick- 
silver which dissolves and combines with or 
"amalgamates" the gold and silver. When 
this is done the precious metals are recov- 
ered by squeezing the quicksilver in a 
chamois skin, thus forcing out the bulk of 
the mercury, and the remaining amalgamate 
is then heated in a retort which drives off 
the quicksilver and leaves the gold and silver 
behind. 

But the majority of placers are not rich 
enough to yield a profit by these methods 
and are worked by means of dredges or hy- 
draulic power. Where the stream is large 
and conditions are favorable dredges are em- 
ployed which dig up vast quantities of gravel 



HOW RIVERS SERVE MAN 101 

and sand from the river bed and banks and 
pass it over tables, sluices and other machin- 
ery where the precious metals or gems are 
separated from the sand. By handling an 
enormous amount of material at a very low 
cost many placers can be worked at a profit 
by dredges when it would be impossible to 
make them pay if worked by hand. In other 
localities, where the streams are too small 
for dredges or where the country is too rough 
or conditions are not right, the placers are 
worked by immense streams of water played 
upon the banks from giant hose-pipes and 
huge nozzles known as "monitors" or 
"giants." These streams cut and tear away 
the gravel and sand and wash it into huge, 
sluice-like arrangements with riffles made of 
railway rails. In this way, vast hillsides and 
mountains are rapidly cut and washed away 
and the wealth they hold is given up to man. 
Very often the water used in these hydraulic 
mines is brought many miles, for in order 
to obtain a strong enough stream to cut the 
gravel a dam must be built many feet above 
the level of the spot where the work is going 



io2 RIVERS AND THEIR MYSTERIES 

on. Thus you see, the rivers not only gather 
up the wealth of vast areas of land and hoard 
it ready for man to secure, but in addition, 
they supply man with the means of obtaining 
it and so, in still another way, they serve 
mankind and from their beds furnish incal- 
culable fortunes to help the civilization, the 
progress and the industry of the world. 



Chapter VI 

SOME UNUSUAL RIVERS 

We usually think of rivers as streams of 
water rising in some definite spot, flowing 
across a country and emptying at last into 
the sea. They may rise among the moun- 
tains or hills; their sources may be springs, 
lakes, swamps or melting snows; they may 
flow through wild and rocky country and 
through marvelous canons, they may wind 
and curve in great bends and ox-bows or 
they may be sluggish, black streams flowing 
through dismal swamps and morasses. 
They may flow into the ocean as a single 
stream or they may possess deltas of many 
mouths; but still, in their most important 
features and characters they are all alike. 

But there are many rivers of quite a differ- 
ent sort, rivers which have no apparent source 
or mouth, rivers which appear and disappear 
in most mysterious fashion, rivers which, 

103 



104 RIVERS AND THEIR MYSTERIES 

rising like any other river and flowing tor 
many miles like any ordinary stream, sud- 
denly sink into the earth or plunge into a 
cavern and never are seen again; rivers, 
which although long-distances from the sea, 
rise and fall like the tides, rivers which in- 
stead of flowing upon the earth run under- 
ground and finally the unseen but very im- 
portant rivers which flow under huge gla- 
ciers. Moreover, although we usually think 
of rivers as fresh, yet there are many rivers 
in the world which are salt. As a rule, how- 
ever these are not true rivers but are merely 
long and narrow straits connecting bodies of 
salt water, either salt lakes or parts of the 
sea. They have no real source and no 
real mouth, both ends being source and 
mouth combined, for the only current or 
flow of such streams is the tide and hence 
for six hours a day they flow in one direc- 
tion and for the next six hours in the other. 
But there are salt rivers in the world which 
are true streams of salt water with definite 
mouths, currents and sources. These are 
the streams which flow across alkali plains 



SOME UNUSUAL RIVERS 105 

that once, in long-past ages, were the beds of 
oceans which have now drained away 
through the uplifting of the land. In such 
spots the earth is impregnated with various 
salts and the rivers, flowing through these, 
dissolve them and carry them on their way 
towards the sea. 

Similar salt rivers also occur in the great 
salt deposits in Europe and elsewhere, while 
in the vicinity of many volcanoes we may 
find rivers carrying not only chemical salts 
but also sulphur lime, iron and many other 
minerals. Very often these mineralized rivers 
are of hot water and as their waters become 
cool the chemicals they contain are deposited 
in crystals or masses upon their banks along 
their beds or upon any object which is im- 
mersed in the water. Sometimes the colors 
and forms of these deposits are most curious 
or are very beautiful while in other cases, the 
deposits have accumulated to such a depth 
during countless centuries that man has found 
them valuable and has mined them. Many of 
our most valuable ores, especially iron ores, 
were formed by water impregnated with 



106 RIVERS AND THEIR MYSTERIES 

iron and in many parts of the world we find 
good-sized rivers whose beds and banks are 
thickly coated with iron deposited by the 
streams as they flow on their way. Where the 
waters carry copper we find the deposits won- 
derfully variegated in beautiful shades of 
green and blue, the material being known as 
malachite and azurite. If the water carries 
sulphur the deposits will be brilliant yellow, 
if it carries manganese the mineral coating left 
by the water will be black and it may be 
every color of the rainbow where iron is held 
in solution. 

Many people wonder why the clay 
and sand banks of some rivers are so 
beautifully colored, but in every case it is due 
to minerals, either in the earth or in the 
stream. The rapidity with which the min- 
erals are deposited depends upon the quan- 
tity held in solution, the speed of the current 
and many other factors, one of the most im- 
portant being the temperature of the water 
where it absorbs or dissolves the minerals. 
A great many minerals are insoluble in cold 
water but are soluble in hot water while 



SOME UNUSUAL RIVERS 107 

others are only soluble in water containing 
certain acids or alkalis. For this reason riv- 
ers which rise or issue from volcanic craters 
or from hot springs usually carry a very high 
percentage of minerals, partly owing to their 
being boiling hot and partly to the fact that 
they absorb many chemicals which render 
the minerals soluble or partly so. So rapidly 
do some of these streams deposit minerals 
that people who live in the vicinity place 
various objects in the streams until they are 
transformed to mineral and then sell them as 
curios. Bird cages containing stuffed can- 
aries when immersed in such rivers will, in 
a short time, become completely encrusted 
with a hard, stony or crystalline coating so 
that they appear to be made of solid rock. 
Such things are often sold to gullible tour- 
ists as "petrified" objects, but they are not 
true fossils, as the interior of the object re- 
mains unchanged and only the surface is 
coated with mineral. But if objects such as 
wood, cloth, bone, leather or any other por- 
ous material should be left in the waters for 
a sufficient length of time they would be- 



108 RIVERS AND THEIR MYSTERIES 

come so thoroughly impregnated with the 
mineral matter that to all intents they would 
be fossils. 

It (was in this way that the hard 
and often beautiful silicified wood and the 
petrified forest of Arizona were formed.* 
Ages ago, some convulsion of nature lowered 
the land whereon grew great forests. Riv- 
ers, ever seeking the lowest levels, filled the 
basins thus formed and converted them into 
lakes with the dead trees rising, like skele- 
tons, above the waters. Gradually, as the 
water, carrying a small amount of silica in 
solution, penetrated the pores of the wood, it 
transformed the dead forest giants to masses 
of many-colored agate. Then, countless 

* This however is not the only way in which silicified forests 
are formed. Many forests were in past ages covered over 
and destroyed by volcanic ashes and dust. Then through the 
centuries, water percolating through this material dissolved 
and carried down mineral salts which impregnated the dead 
trees beneath and transformed them to agate. Gradually the 
accumulation of ashes was washed or worn away leaving the 
silicified forests as we find them today. In fact some scientists 
claim that the petrified forest of Arizona was formed in this 
manner. In the cases of others, however, there is nothing to 
prove that this occurred and all evidences point to silicifica- 
tion by mineral-impregnated water in rivers or lakes. The 
fossil forests of Panama are of this class, although it is not 
impossible or improbable that volcanic ashes or mud, falling 
upon them before they were submerged, or falling into the 
waters which flowed over them, aided in their petrification. « 



SOME UNUSUAL RIVERS 109 

thousands of years later perhaps, the country 
rose slightly, the water drained away and 
the stone trees, perfect in every detail of bark, 
texture, knots, branches and even insect bor- 
ings, were left scattered about to arouse the 
wonder and admiration of man. We in- 
variably think of such things as having taken 
place in long past ages and while it is true 
that great alterations in the earth undoubt- 
edly occurred more rapidly and more fre- 
quently when the world was young than at 
the present time, still the same things are 
going on today, although so slowly that we 
do not realize the fact. When our engineers 
built the wonderful Panama Canal they 
erected a stupendous dam across the Chagres 
River and thus formed the immense Gatun 
Lake covering over one hundred square 
miles. Buried fathoms deep beneath this 
great expanse of water are plains and val- 
leys, hills and ridges, river beds, ponds and 
jungles. Hills that once rose above valleys 
now stand as wooded islands in the lake and 
everywhere rise the giant forest trees, gaunt, 
bare, pathetic skeletons above the water. 



no RIVERS AND THEIR MYSTERIES 

Many of them have decayed and broken off 
so that only their stumps remain as black- 
ened, water-soaked snags; others have with- 
stood wind, water and decay and are as firm 
and solid as ever and many have braved all 
and are sending forth leaves and buds in de- 
fiance of the overwhelming lake. But what 
will this spot be like a hundred thousand 
years or more hence? Who can say that by 
then the trees will not have been impreg- 
nated with the minerals and metal salts of 
the Chagres water, that when the ages have 
rolled by and the Canal is but an ancient 
ruin the waters of Gatun Lake may drain 
away and leave the drowned trees imperish- 
ably preserved as trunks and roots and 
branches of solid agate? Such things have 
happened in the past in Panama not many 
miles from Gatun Lake. Over vast areas 
of the country where once we know — from 
gravel bars and water worn rocks — that great 
rivers flowed and broad lakes were formed, 
we find countless silicified trees and in the 
dim future the forests of Gatun Lake may 
be the same. 



SOME UNUSUAL RIVERS m 

Perhaps you think that in such salt or 
mineral impregnated waters as I have men- 
tioned there can be no life. But such is not 
the case and many of the salt rivers and even 
the hot water streams teem with life. Na- 
ture is a most adaptable thing and because one 
form of life cannot exist under certain con- 
ditions is no reason why other forms should 
not, while even species which are not nor- 
mally found in one place may become so 
adapted to another that they are perfectly 
at home there. Just as some plants are killed 
by salt water while others thrive only where 
their roots are steeped in brine, so along the 
stinking, steaming water of mineralized vol- 
canic streams we find delicate ferns, lovely 
flowers, strange orchids and many trees and 
shrubs whose leaves and stems are constantly 
exposed to deadly sulphurous fumes and 
whose roots are washed by water almost at 
the boiling point. We know that certain fish 
and water animals cannot live save where 
the stream flows swiftly and is almost icy 
cold and we know that others prefer the 
muddy, warmer waters of sluggish streams 



ii2 RIVERS AND THEIR MYSTERIES 

and if we were to examine the rivers and 
brooks whose waters are fouled with chem- 
icals or from whose surfaces steam rises in 
clouds, we would find that certain insects 
and even fishes dwell therein. I have seen 
tadpoles by thousands in water reeking with 
sulphur and uncomfortably hot to one's hand, 
I have caught fish in rivers so black with 
chemicals that the water looked like ink and 
in the bubbling, seething springs that fed a 
river rising among the steaming craters of a 
West Indian volcano, I have found the wig- 
gling, semi-transparent larvae of flies and 
gnats perfectly contented and at home. And 
now let us turn to those strange rivers which 
have no outlet; to rivers that mysteriously 
appear and disappear, to the underground 
rivers, for all of these are closely related and 
all are very interesting and baffling until we 
know the reason for them. 

In many parts of the world where lime- 
stone is the country rock we find rivers and 
streams issuing from apparently solid hills, 
flowing for long distances and then suddenly 
disappearing as though swallowed up by the 



SOME UNUSUAL RIVERS 113 

earth. In such localities, too, rivers will 
at times appear where no river has been be- 
fore and after flowing for a variable length 
of time they will all at once dry up and dis- 
appear. But there is nothing mysterious about 
this for such rivers do not really flow from 
nowhere nor do they cease, but are merely 
underground rivers which flow above ground 
for a portion of their course or which, swol- 
len by floods or other causes, find an outlet 
from their underground channels and flow 
across the land until the excess water has 
been drained off and they again resume their 
original course. 

In the districts where such streams 
occur we will find numerous deep de- 
pressions known as "sink-holes," which 
often contained a pool of water and we will also 
find caves and caverns, some small and others 
often of gigantic dimensions. Such are the 
famous Luray and Mammoth caves of Ken- 
tucky, the Bellamar caves of Matanzas, Cuba, 
and many others. In such localities the 
water, soaking into the earth, finds it way 
to the grottoes and openings in the limestone 



ii4 RIVERS AND THEIR MYSTERIES 

and forms underground lakes and streams. 
Very often these subterranean rivers may 
flow for miles far below the surface of the 
country and their presence may not even be 
suspected by the inhabitants unless, in dig- 
ging or boring wells, the stream is reached. 
If, however, there is a deep hollow or valley 
whose bottom is below the level of the bed 
of the underground river the stream will 
issue from a fissure or cave and follow the 
depression until it reaches some other fissure 
or cavern at a lower level when it will at 
once leave the surface and vanish in the 
earth. At other times, an underground 
stream may flow through caverns and fissures 
throughout its course and under ordinary 
conditions may never appear above the sur- 
face of the ground. But if a portion of a 
cavern roof, a wall of rock or any other bar- 
rier should check its free flow or if un- 
usually heavy rains or spring thaws should 
increase its volume to such an extent that 
its normal channels could not carry it off, 
then the underground river will rise and 
back up, exactly as the water of an ordin- 



SOME UNUSUAL RIVERS 115 

ary river rises above a dam. Then, when 
a fissure or opening leading to the surface 
of the earth is reached the river will pour 
out, flow across the land and appear as an 
ordinary stream, either flowing into some 
other river or a lake or finding a fissure 
through which to resume its underground 
journey. 

If the barrier which has caused this 
is a mass of rock which remains as a 
permanent dam the river may continue on its 
new course forever, whereas, if it is merely 
a flood which has caused it to overflow its 
underground banks, the new stream will 
dwindle away and disappear as soon as the 
surplus water has been drained off and the 
subterranean river falls to its ordinary size. 
In many places streams of this character 
appear regularly every spring, for myste- 
rious and strange as they may seem they are 
in reality no more remarkable or abnormal 
than the temporary waterways which are 
formed by ordinary rivers when the water 
overflows the banks during freshets. 

In some places all of the streams are un- 



n6 RIVERS AND THEIR MYSTERIES 

derground, while in other districts there are 
both subterranean and surface rivers, for 
one stream may find a fissure through which 
to drop and form an underground river 
while another may not, or again, a river may 
be so large that the greater portion of its 
water remains above ground although much 
of it flows through underground channels. 
One of the most noteworthy spots where 
there are no surface streams is the little isl- 
and of Barbados in the West Indies. This 
island which is of limestone formation built 
up of drifted sea sand and coral, is honey- 
combed with caves, grottoes and subterran- 
ean tunnels through which large streams of 
clear, cold, fresh water flow. You may travel 
over every inch of the island and never see 
a spring, brook or pond and yet there is an 
excellent water supply with stand-pipes along 
the roads and the visitor, who is not ''in the 
know," wonders where the water comes from. 
The Barbadians long ago solved the prob- 
lem of their water supply by tapping one of 
the island's underground rivers. By de- 
scending into one of the caves or sink-holes 



SOME UNUSUAL RIVERS 117 

of the island — and sink-holes are merely cav- 
erns whose roofs have fallen in— it is possible 
to follow these underground streams for 
many miles. Some of them have been ex- 
plored, but many others still remain prac- 
tically unknown and it is a highly danger- 
ous undertaking to attempt to follow them 
unless great care is taken that one may re- 
trace one's steps to the starting-point, for 
the caves and fissures form a labyrinth of 
subterranean chambers with innumerable 
openings and with the streams dividing and 
branching in every direction. Many of the 
caves are very beautiful with their stalactite- 
hung roofs, great columnar stalagmites rising 
from the floor, white, transparent draperies, 
like delicate lace and grotesque folded, cor- 
rugated, nodular masses of the dripstone 
everywhere. 

Here, as in many other limestone caves, 
the visitor may see the stalactites form- 
ing before his eyes. If we examine 
one of these tapering, pendant masses 
which is still in the process of growth we 
will find that a little drop of water gathers 



n8 RIVERS AND THEIR MYSTERIES 

upon the tip and as we watch we will see 
tiny, needle-like crystals forming about the 
end of the stalactite, just as ice crystals form 
in a drop of freezing water. Thus, drop at 
a time, the water trickles down the stalac- 
tite, each drop as it seeps through the earth 
and rock above gathering a solution of car- 
bonate of lime and reaching the tip q* the 
stalactite giving up its mineral contents and 
slowly but very steadily building the stalac- 
tites longer and larger. When we see how 
slowly these dripstone formations are built 
we realize how many countless thousands of 
years nature must have been at work pro- 
ducing the immense columns and pillars, the 
huge stalagmites and the thick masses which 
cover walls, ceilings and floors, for all of this 
was built in the same way by drops of water 
containing carbonate of lime. 

This stone, formed by the dripping water, 
is much harder than the surrounding rock 
and thus the caverns and fissures where it has 
formed are protected from wearing away. 
Very often the surrounding rock may be 
worn, eroded and broken down leaving the 






SOME UNUSUAL RIVERS 119 

hard dripstone of the caves standing above 
the surrounding country in the forms of nat- 
ural arches, bridges and hills. In many lime- 
stone countries every hillock marks a cavern 
whose dripstone coating has withstood the 
elements, while the limestone about it has 
slowly given way to wind, weather, frosts 
and rains. Strangely enough, too, the cav- 
erns and fissures which the water preserves 
and protects by coating them with dripstone, 
were carved and worn in the limestone by 
water in the first place and while they now 
mark harder areas of rock, in the beginning 
they were the softest spots. In places like 
the Bermudas or Barbados the limestone is 
formed by shell and coral sand blowing and 
drifting into dunes and then becoming ce- 
mented together by the rain water percolat- 
ing through it and dissolving and redeposit- 
ing the lime. Wherever this occurs there 
always are spots where, for one reason or 
another, the sand remains loose or is not so 
firmly cemented together and in time these 
softer spots wear away or are washed out to 
form hollows or fissures. And as they in- 



120 RIVERS AND THEIR MYSTERIES 

crease in size the water, running through 
them, wears them larger and larger until 
big caves are formed. Then the water, per- 
colating through the rock and sand above, 
commences its slow but sure process of form- 
ing stalactites, stalagmites and dripstone and 
the cavern becomes a fairy grotto filled with 
a crystal-clear pool or a rushing stream. 

Very often, such caves extend in chains or 
series for many miles and may even be con- 
nected with the sea so that in those below 
tide level the ocean's tides rise and fall. Then, 
if a river flows across the country and into 
these caverns its waters may be backed up 
with every rising tide, to recede and flow 
swiftly as the tide goes down, thus present- 
ing the phenomenon of a tidal river far from 
the sea coast. 

Perhaps the strangest thing about un- 
derground rivers is the fact that they contain 
fish which are found nowhere else. Of 
course, many of the streams which flow partly 
underground and partly on the surface have 
the same forms of life as ordinary rivers, but 
the denizens of those streams which, through- 



SOME UNUSUAL RIVERS 121 

out their course, flow underground are very 
different In these we find pale-colored 
fishes which are absolutely blind and even 
certain species of salamanders which are 
blind also. How and where, we may ask, 
did these blind denizens of the subterranean 
streams originate? They did not originate; 
they have been evolved through countless 
centuries, have been adapted by nature to 
life in waters where light never penetrates 
and their food consists of tiny creatures as 
perfectly adapted to a subterranean life as 
themselves. No doubt their ancestors lived 
in surface streams and by accident found 
themselves beneath the ground, and as in 
such places they had no need of sight or of 
color, their descendants, unable to regain the 
surface rivers, gradually lost their eyes and 
their bright hues until today we have the 
ghostly, blind inhabitants of these strange 
rivers that flow through fissures and caverns 
in the bowels of the earth, that dash in 
rapids down rock-filled underground canons 
and that roar in cataracts over subterranean 
precipices. 



122 RIVERS AND THEIR MYSTERIES 

Just as some rivers flow through crevices 
and caverns under the earth, so, where the 
vast moving masses of ice called glaciers oc- 
cur, we find rivers flowing through the fis- 
sures and caverns in the ice, and many large 
and important rivers, such as the Columbia, 
the Rhine and the Rhone have, as their 
sources, these glacial streams. If you have 
ever watched the melting masses of snow and 
ice upon a hillside in spring you have no 
doubt noticed the innumerable, tiny rills 
which trickle from beneath them and you 
may have seen the miniature caves and 
cafions which these streamlets have formed 
in the frozen mass. These are in many ways 
exact counterparts of the rivers under gla- 
ciers, although of course infinitely smaller. 

We are accustomed to think of glaciers as 
stupendous masses of solid ice moving 
slowly down their mountain valleys, but in 
reality these glaciers are built up of innum- 
erable layers of ice and snow, like the strata 
of rocks which compose the mountains, each 
layer or strata representing a snowfall. 
Upon the surface we find the snow still soft 



SOME UNUSUAL RIVERS 123 

and white, but below this each layer becomes 
harder and darker and more compact, each 
successive layer more filled with stones and 
gravel, until, at the very bottom where the 
strata marks some ancient snowfall that 
drifted from the skies thousands of years ago, 
we find the ice so filled with sand and rocks 
as scarcely to be distinguished from the land 
about. Moreover, the surface of the gla- 
cier, and the layers of ice beneath, are not 
solid and unbroken, but are cracked and split 
and filled with huge crevices or crevasses 
where the mighty ice mass has been subjected 
to greater strains than it can withstand. 

Just as the waters on the earth's surface 
follow the fissures in the rocks to underground 
caverns, so the water, formed by the melting of 
the surface of the glacier, pour down through 
the cracks in the ice. Then, reaching the 
layers filled with stones and sand and which 
are easily cut and eroded by the descending 
water, the stream carves caverns and grottoes 
and follows fissures and crevices until at last 
it gains the solid rock beneath the ice mass 
and can go no deeper. But the water is in- 



i2 4 RIVERS AND THEIR MYSTERIES 

tent on reaching the sea and between the 
bottom of the glacier and the rocky bed are 
many openings and irregularities and 
through these the water worms its way—ever 
melting and cutting the ice as it proceeds — 
until at last, it has formed a passageway be- 
neath the monstrous mass of ice and gushes 
forth at the foot of the glacier. If the gla- 
cier is one of those of the far north which 
ends at the sea and breaking off forms mighty 
icebergs, our glacier river will lose itself in 
the ocean and no man may ever see it or 
realize that it exists. But should the glacier 
be a mountain glacier, such as those of the 
Alps or other great mountain ranges, the 
river, once free from the mass of ice, will 
wend its way through valleys and across 
plains to the distant sea and people, dwelling 
along its shores, will never stop to think that 
the flashing, sunlit river that turns their mills, 
waters their fields and carries them upon its 
bosom, had its beginning in the melting 
snows on the surface of a distant glacier. 



Chapter VII 

ARTIFICIAL RIVERS 

STRANGE as it may seem, many of the most 
important waterways of the world have been 
made by man. Not content with making use 
of the rivers given him by nature, man has 
made streams to suit his own needs and to 
flow wherever he requires them. These arti- 
ficial streams are known as canals and in 
many countries they are more numerous and 
more important than the natural rivers. 
Holland, as we all know, is a country of 
canals and the people, the traffic, the trans- 
portation, and the prosperity of the country 
are dependent upon its artificial waterways 
for not only do they serve as highways but 
in addition drain the land which is below 
sea level. France, too, is covered with a 
vast network of canals which are in many 
ways of more importance than the railways 
or highways for the purpose of transporting 

125 



126 RIVERS AND THEIR MYSTERIES 

freight. We also hear a great deal of the 
Canals of Venice, but in reality these are not 
true canals, but are natural waterways or 
estuaries of the sea which originally flowed 
between islands, but which have been so 
transformed by building up the shores with 
docks, houses and other structures as to give 
them the effect of canals. 

True canals are dug by man to connect 
other bodies of water and very often a canal 
may be artificial for a part of its length and 
a natural stream for the rest of the distance. 
There are many reasons for making canals. 
Oftentimes, a large river may be only a short 
distance from another stream or lake and yet 
there may be no waterways connecting the 
two and the cities and their inhabitants upon 
one stream or lake may be prevented from 
using the cheap river highway. Or again, 
two rivers may be near together and yet they 
may flow into the sea at widely different 
points and the people on one may be in direct 
all-water communication with a port, while 
those upon the other may have to transport 
their goods hundreds of miles out of the way 



ARTIFICIAL RIVERS 127 

to reach a port. Sometimes, too, a great 
river may flow near a rich, prosperous or 
thickly settled district and yet be too far 
from the farms and industries to afford a 
ready means of transportation, while in still 
other cases, a waterfall or rapids may inter- 
rupt the course of a river and thus prevent 
it from being used as a highway unless all 
goods are unloaded and carried around the 
falls on every trip. In all such cases man 
overcomes the difficulties by connecting the 
lakes and streams, or by going around the 
falls, by making the huge ditches which we 
call canals. Even today these man-made 
rivers are of great value and before the ad- 
vent of railways they were absolutely neces- 
sary. 

In addition to these canals I have 
mentioned are those which connect two 
bodies of salt water, such as seas or 
oceans. Very often two parts of the sea or 
two oceans may be separated by a narrow 
strip of land which compels ships to go 
thousands of miles out of their way and to 
waste weeks of time in order to go from a 



128 RIVERS AND THEIR MYSTERIES 



port on one ocean to a nearby port on an- 
other. By digging a canal through the inter- 
vening land incalculable sums of money and 
an enormous amount of time are saved and 
freights and passengers can be carried more 
cheaply and more quickly. Such canals are 
the Cape Cod Canal, the Suez Canal and 
the Panama Canal. Finally, man often con- 
structs artificial rivers to bring water from 
distant lakes or reservoirs to the cities and 
these, known as aqueducts, are among the 
most important of man-made streams. We 
would scarcely call our sewers rivers and yet 
one of the largest of man-made rivers and 
one of the most important of canals is the 
Chicago Drainage Canal. Indeed canals 
may be likened to rivers in many ways. 
Thus the true canals are like ordinary flow- 
ing rivers, the canals connecting bodies of 
the ocean are salt rivers or tidal rivers, the 
canals of a country like Holland may be 
compared to a huge delta, the aqueducts 
which bring fresh water to the great cities 
and our sewers and drainage canals are un- 
derground rivers, and the gutters of our city 



ARTIFICIAL RIVERS 129 

streets and the farmer's ditches may be lik- 
ened to brooks. 

When a canal is cut through level land or 
connects two bodies of water of the same 
level the water flows through quietly and 
boats come and go as readily as upon an 
ordinary stream. But where the land is un- 
even or hilly or where the two bodies of 
water which the canal connects are of un- 
equal level, some provision must be made to 
prevent the water from flowing too rapidly 
through the canal and thus rendering it im- 
possible for boats to pass through. This is 
accomplished by means of locks and while 
the principle and operation of locks are very 
simple yet, to many people, they are a mys- 
tery. 

A lock consists of two watertight dams 
or gates which are so arranged that they can 
be opened or shut and with smaller openings 
or valves in them. These are placed at the 
points where the surface of the ground 
changes its elevation and when a boat comes 
to such a spot the locks are used to raise or 
lower it from one level to the other. If the 



i 3 o RIVERS AND THEIR MYSTERIES 

boat is going up the canal the up-stream gate 
and valves are closed and the lower ones 
opened so that the boat enters the lock at 
the low level. Then the lower lock gate is 
closed behind the boat and the upper gates 
or valves opened, which allows the water 
from above to pour into the lock and raise 
the boat to the upper level of the canal when 
the upper gate is opened and the boat pro- 
ceeds on its way. If the craft is coming 
down the canal the operation is reversed; 
that is, the lower gates are closed in front of 
the boat and the upper ones are shut behind 
it. Then the water in the lock is allowed 
to run out through the lower gate until the 
boat sinks to the lower level of the canal, 
the gates are then opened and the boat goes 
on its way. Very often, the elevation or hill 
where the canal passes is too great to be 
overcome with a single lock and several are 
used and as a usual thing a canal of any 
great length is provided with numerous locks 
and by mean? of these a boat may be raised 
for several hundred feet in a comparatively 
short distance. But at times the land where 



ARTIFICIAL RIVERS 131 

a canal is dug rises so abruptly that locks 
would not be practical and in such places an 
inclined way is often provided and the canal 
boats are hauled out of the water at the 
lower level and up the ways to the upper 
level or vice versa by machinery. 

For these reasons canals are much com- 
moner and more important in level or flat 
countries than in hilly districts, for locks are 
expensive to install and to operate and in 
passing through them the traffic is greatly 
delayed. Thus Holland is so flat that com- 
paratively few locks are required on its 
canals as most of them are at or below sea 
level and they do not cross any great eleva- 
tions of land. It is the same way with the 
majority of the French canals and in these 
countries one may travel along a canal for 
many miles without seeing a single lock. 
Formerly canal boats were drawn through 
the canals by mules which were driven along 
a narrow pathway on the bank of the canal 
and which was known as a towpath, but now- 
adays, although mules and towpaths are still 
used to some extent, the more important can- 



132 RIVERS AND THEIR MYSTERIES 

als are navigated by boats equipped with 
power and driven by propellers. 

No one knows who first invented canals 
and no one can say what first put the idea 
of making artificial rivers into men's heads. 
It may have been a flood or freshet which 
overflowed a river's banks and formed water- 
ways in gullys and valleys where no stream 
had flowed before, or it may have been an 
irrigation ditch or even a child sailing his 
toy boat in a tiny ditch he had dug; but 
whatever the origin it is very ancient, for 
canals were known and used in earliest his- 
torical times. The Greeks and Romans con- 
structed enormous canals and aqueducts some 
of which still remain and are in daily use 
and even savage, primitive races dig minia- 
ture canals to permit their canoes to reach 
their villages at some distance from the 
rivers. 

I have already spoken of the salt-water 
canals used to connect two portions of the sea 
or two oceans and these, as a rule, do not 
require locks as the sea is practically level. 
This is the case with the famous Suez Canal 



ARTIFICIAL RIVERS 133 

— and much of this by the way was an an- 
cient canal used long before the dawn of 
Christianity — but when man decided to con- 
nect the Atlantic and Pacific oceans by cut- 
ting a canal across the Isthmus of Panama 
he found that a sea level canal was an im- 
possibility. Not only were there high moun- 
tains to be crossed which would mean cut- 
ting a huge ditch over six hundred feet deep, 
but the tide in the Pacific rises and falls for 
twenty feet, while in the Atlantic it only 
rises and falls a few inches. It was largely 
due to the fact that the French (who had 
dug the Suez Canal), thought that they could 
make a sea level canal across the Isthmus 
that they failed in their attempt for they 
wasted vast sums of money before they realized 
their error and changed their plans, while it 
was owing to the fact that our engineers prof- 
ited by the experience of the French and con- 
structed a lock canal that we were success- 
ful. Many people think that the idea of a 
canal connecting the Atlantic and Pacific 
Oceans originated with the French; but 
in reality, the Spaniards had considered 



134 RIVERS AND THEIR MYSTERIES 

the matter and had even had a survey and 
report made over three hundred years be- 
fore the French took up the idea. Although 
the old Spanish engineers reported that a 
canal could be made they advised the Span- 
ish King not to undertake it for three rea- 
sons: first, on account of the cost; second, 
as it would enable pirates and other enemies 
to attack Spanish settlements on the Pacific 
and, third, because the Church declared that 
it would be sacreligious to connect two 
oceans which God had separated by land. 

Although the Panama Canal is the largest 
and most famous of man-made rivers in the 
world, yet few realize what a stupendous un- 
dertaking it was or the tremendous amount 
of labor, materials and supplies used in its 
construction or the immense size of the locks. 
At Gatun dam, where ships are raised for 
eighty-five feet to the level of Gatun Lake, 
there are three sets of locks, while at the 
other end of the lake where ships are raised 
from the Pacific level or lowered to it, there 
are also three sets, two at Miraflores and one 
at Pedro Miguel. When we watch a boat 



ARTIFICIAL RIVERS 135 

being locked through an ordinary canal the 
massive wooden gates look very large and 
cumbersome, but try to imagine great, steel, 
lock-gates, sixty-five feet long, eighty-two feet 
high, seven feet thick and weighing 730 tons 
each! And instead of the bluff-bowed canal 
boat in its lock chamber a hundred feet in 
length, try to think what it would be like to 
see a huge battleship or ocean liner in a lock- 
chamber one thousand feet long and over one 
hundred feet in width! Slowly, very slowly, 
the water rises in our old-fashioned canal 
locks until the barge reaches the upper level, 
and yet, in the gigantic locks of the Panama 
Canal the chamber can be filled and the ship 
raised in fifteen minutes! But even such 
comparisons give no adequate idea of this 
stupendous man-made river. Everything is 
on such a colossal scale that the mind can 
scarcely grasp it. Thus, who can conceive 
the amount of material excavated — a total 
of over twelve million cubic yards or enough 
to have dug a tunnel thirteen feet in dia- 
meter through the center of the earth? In 
hauling and dumping this mountain of ma- 



136 RIVERS AND THEIR MYSTERIES 

terial over one hundred locomotives and two 
thousand cars were required, while, to blast 
the rock in making the huge ditch, over six 
million pounds of dynamite were used each 
year. Still, with all our resources, all our 
vast expenditure, all our herculean labors 
and all our engineers, this gigantic canal 
would not have been possible had it not been 
for a river, for in order to secure a water 
supply to enable the locks to be operated a 
stupendous lake covering over one hundred 
and sixty square miles was formed by block- 
ing the Chagres River with the largest dam 
in the world. Thus, this comparatively small 
stream which was hardly known to the out- 
side world, became one of the most impor- 
tant rivers on earth, for it enabled man to 
perform the greatest engineering feat ever 
known when the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans 
were linked by the Panama Canal. 



Chapter VIII 

A JOURNEY DOWN A NORTHERN 
RIVER 

Wandering through the northern woodland 
we come upon a brawling, tumbling brook; 
a merry, flashing rill of crystal water, cold 
as ice and dashing, rushing onward over its 
bed of granite boulders and smooth, worn 
ledges as though its speed were the most 
important thing in the world. If we are ar- 
dent anglers we will recognize the stream as 
an ideal spot for trout and skirting the 
shores under their fringe of sweet-scented 
balsam fir and gleaming, silver-white birches 
we cast our lines into still dark pools or into 
the bubbling water at the foot of miniature 
cataracts and are rewarded by many a flash- 
ing, speckled beauty. But if we are not too 
intent on luring the handsome fish from their 
cool homes in the mountain brook and will 
devote a bit of our attention to our surround- 

137 



138 RIVERS AND THEIR MYSTERIES 

ings we will find many things to interest us 
and to arouse our curiosity. We will note 
how the rocks and ledges are deeply scored 
or grooved in many spots, we will see that 
where the stream dashes over a smooth ledge 
in a little waterfall that there is a well- 
marked gutter or channel cut in the hard 
granite and we will begin to wonder how 
the water could have worn the rock to sucji 
an extent, how long it has been in doing it 
and w r hy some of the smooth, worn ledges 
are far above the present level of the brook. 
Then we may notice that all the pebbles and 
boulders in the bed of the stream are worn 
smooth and round and that many of them 
are of a different material from the ledges. 
As we carelessly toss back those we have been 
examining we see them go rolling and jump- 
ing and grinding along in the current of the 
stream. Here we at once have a solution, a 
key, to the puzzle of the water grooving the 
rock, for instantly we realize that in times of 
freshet or flood our merry brook is capable 
of moving good-sized boulders with its cur- 
rent and that these, grating and grinding and 



DOWN A NORTHERN RIVER 139 

sliding across the ledges, have cut the grooves 
and that once they have been started the 
stones will naturally follow the grooves and 
will cut them ever deeper and deeper. 

In examining these deeply-scored marks we 
will find that, in spots, harder rock — narrow 
veins of quartz or finer-grained areas, are 
scattered through the granite and that where 
these occur they project slightly from the 
surrounding rock. In other spots we will 
find masses of rock softer than the granite, 
veins of mica, feldspar and other minerals 
known as pegmatite, and that where these 
occur the water and its cobbles have worn 
and cut deep holes and crevices and that in 
many places the stream follows a bed which 
represents the spot from which this softer 
rock has been worn. Perchance, too, we may 
find a curious, circular hole, or several of 
them, cut as smoothly and evenly as though 
bored by man. These holes may be above 
the present level of the brook or they may 
be under water and in them we will find one 
or more rounded smoothed masses of hard 
rock. 



140 RIVERS AND THEIR MYSTERIES 

If the hole is under water we will find 
that the current swirls and eddies about 
within it, like a miniature whirlpool, and 
we surmise, and rightly, that it is the swirl- 
ing water and the stones which have cut 
these pot-holes in the granite. Just below 
here the water tumbles into a shallow, quiet 
pool floored with fine sand and as we gaze 
through the crystal-clear water we are sur- 
prised to see something moving upon the bot- 
tom. We look closer and discover that the 
object is a little bunch of twigs, and anxious 
to learn why it should move about, we reach 
down and secure it Within our hand the 
little bundle of tiny sticks is motionless and 
seems devoid of life, but if we place it in a 
little pool of water we will presently see a 
small head appear from one end of the ob- 
ject and a moment later it will commence to 
move slowly along, for this is the home of a 
caddice worm, the larvae of a pretty lace- 
winged insect. Our interest now aroused, we 
search our pool for more specimens and find 
them aplenty; caddice worms in houses of 
twigs, in houses of sand, in houses built of 




> - 

* 2 

H .2 

O o 



o 

en 

Q 

l-H 

Ph 



DOWN A NORTHERN RIVER 141 

tiny snail shells and, in one corner between 
two little pebbles, we see what we mistake 
for a spider web and we wonder why a spider 
should place its silken trap under water. But 
here again we are mistaken for the web 
does not belong to our old friend the spider, 
but to one of our caddice worms, a tiny 
insect-fisherman who spreads his net wherever 
the water runs swiftly among the pebbles and 
in it captures many a tiny insect and crus- 
tacean for his dinner. 

Here, too, if we turn over some of the 
larger stones, we may find a strange dark- 
colored, savage looking creature which the 
country boys will tell us is a helgramite or 
dobson and which, if we are bass fishermen, 
we will recognize as one of the most highly 
prized baits for those gamey fish. Perhaps, 
too, we may find a dainty orange newt aglow 
with scarlet spots, or a swift-swimming, big- 
headed, powerful dragon-fly larvae and we 
will most assuredly find many small snails, 
and, on the surface of the pool, a number 
of the long-legged water-boatmen and the 
glossy-black whirligig beetles. But all of 



142 RIVERS AND THEIR MYSTERIES 

these are more or less familiar to us and are 
of little interest and anxious to see whither 
this roaring brook goes we pick our way 
down stream. 

Presently the hard, gray granite gives 
way to a softer reddish rock and in- 
stantly the character of the brook and of 
its bed and banks are changed. Here 
there are no smoothly-worn, abrupt ledges 
and rounded boulders, no noisy cataracts and 
rock-filled falls. Instead the brook flows 
between steep, sharply-cut banks of red stone 
curiously piled in thin horizontal layers; 
its bed is broad and smooth, dropping in a 
series of slopes down the ravine-like cut 
through the hills. We find few boulders or 
pebbles in the stream and these we recognize 
as having been brought down from the area 
of granite above. Far over our heads the 
summits of the banks are fringed with firs 
and spruces and glancing up we see plainly 
that the sides of the ravine are water worn 
and we realize that the stream has cut its way 
through the sandstone for scores of feet. It 
is a dark, damp, quiet, spot with the brook 



DOWN A NORTHERN RIVER 143 

purling in subdued tones through its sloping 
bed and as we reach the lower end of the 
ravine we come to a bright, sunny clearing 
where the brook flows under drooping alders 
and hazel bushes through a bed of rich, black 
earth. 

Close at hand runs a country road 
and forsaking the tangle of brush beside the 
brook we take to the highway, and keeping 
our stream in sight, walk along in the shade 
of the big maples. Presently the road turns 
to one side and we find ourselves upon a 
rustic plank bridge spanning the brook 
which, just below, widens out into a little 
pond with the roofs of buildings peeping 
through the foliage of trees at the farther 
end. Following a narrow path that skirts one 
side of the pond, and startling many a frog 
that plumps with a splash into the water, we 
approach the buildings. We find them old, 
weather-beaten and deserted, but beside one 
we see an ancient, massive water-wheel while 
the piles of rotting, half-overgrown sawdust 
tells the tale of the old sawmill which, years 
before, sawed the trees from the clearing into 



i 4 4 RIVERS AND THEIR MYSTERIES 

boards and timbers for the farmers in the 
neighborhood. Before us, too, is the old 
dam, built of logs and stones, broken in places 
and out of repair, but still strong and tight 
enough to hold the bulk of the water of our 
brook. In a pretty cataract the stream pours 
over the rotting dam and gurgles through 
the half-choked millrace, to hurry on down 
the valley. 

A mile or two further on our stream is 
joined by another brook and, spreading out 
sweeps in broad curves through a meadow. 
Just where the two streams join is a little 
house and, pulled upon the bank of the 
stream, are two canoes. Here then is an 
easier means of following our brook and 
from the swarthy French-Canadian who ap- 
pears at our approach we hire a canoe and 
embarking, slip sw r iftly downstream with the 
current. As our craft swings around the 
bends we wonder why the brook did not 
run straight, for there seems no reason for 
its not following a direct line down the 
centre of the valley. We see that the banks 
of the stream are of sand and clay and then 



DOWN A NORTHERN RIVER 145 

we notice that each time the current carries 
us around a bend it swings us far over to 
the outer side of the curve. On this side, 
too, we note that the water not only runs 
more swiftly, but is deeper than the opposite 
side which is shallow and has an accumula- 
tion of dead trees, leaves and other drift 
piled upon the sand and gravel which ex- 
tends from the bank into the stream. On 
another bend we see where the current has 
recently cut away a slice of the bank, expos- 
ing fresh earth, and wondering why this 
should happen we glance about and see a 
log stranded in midstream and which has 
forced the entire current against the bank. 
Then the reason dawns upon us and we know 
why the stream flows in curves instead of 
straight; we grasp the fact that a log, 
stump or stone in the channel will turn the 
current and compel it to cut away the bank 
and that as fast as it cuts in one side it fills 
in the other. 

If we land and examine the meadow 
near these curves we may be able to 
trace the bend for a long distance £>y the 



146 RIVERS AND THEIR MYSTERIES 

hollows they have left as they have been 
gradually filled in, and, in places, we may 
still find the shallow, grass-grown remains of 
an ancient channel which ran nearly straight 
across the meadow. If there should be any 
question that this is so we could readily prove 
it by digging into the earth. If we found 
only ordinary soil with scattered pebbles and 
stones we would know that the stream had 
not flowed there, but if we should find 
gravel, sand and stones evenly assorted or 
"classified" we would be sure it was the old 
bed of the stream, for the sands and gravels 
of river beds are always deposited in regular 
order with the heavier stones and pebbles 
below and the lighter above. Thus geolo- 
gists can always distinguish gravel beds or 
sand banks made by streams from those 
formed by glaciers, wind or other causes. 

There are many other interesting facts 
which we could learn about our stream also. 
If we are hungry and cast our lines into the 
water we will not catch speckled trout, but 
perch, dace, pum'kin-seeds, roach or other 
fish; we would find more snails and many 



DOWN A NORTHERN RIVER 147 

fresh water mussels on the bottom and while 
we would still find caddice worms, dragon- 
fly larvae and various water insects we would 
miss our insect- fisherman; we would find a 
different kind of salamander and we would 
have to search for a long time to locate a 
dobson. 

We would also discover that the plants 
along the banks were different and that the 
birds* had changed. Back in the granite 
hills, balsams, birches, larch and spruce were 
the prevailing trees. Maiden's hair and 
other ferns grew in the shady spots and col- 
umbines, hair-bells and saxifrage brightened 
the crevices of the rocks. Chickadees sought 
for their food upon the tree trunks, hermit 
thrushes trilled from dense thickets of 
spruce; a kingfisher rattled his challenge as 
he plunged into a pool after an unwary trout 
and a dainty wagtail teetered curiously as he 
walked mincingly beside the falls. But here 
by the broader stream in the meadow we 
find willows and elms with an occasional oak 
or hickory. A vivid cardinal flower gleams 
among the coarse grass on the bank, blue gen- 



148 RIVERS AND THEIR MYSTERIES 

tians dot the grass in the old, dry channels 
and in the quieter stretches pickerel-weed, 
arrow-head and flag are seen. From the 
waterside an occasional green heron flaps to 
safety at our approach, song sparrows sing 
gaily from nodding mullein stalks, and the 
clear, piping whistle of the red-wings is 
borne to us on the breeze. 

All this we note as our canoe slips swiftly 
down the stream, while from time to time, 
we pass the mouths of other brooks, until, 
without realizing it, our brook has been 
transformed into a river. Then, swinging 
around the base of a wooded hill, purling 
musically over a stretch of gravelly rapids, 
hurrying through a dark, hackmatack swamp, 
the river carries us through an ever chang- 
ing panorama to leave us floating upon the 
tranquil waters of a broad lake. On all 
sides rise the forested hills, dark with pines, 
and skirting the shores we search for an out- 
let. At last we find it, but it is a brawling, 
rapid-filled stream with jagged, upjutting 
rocks, and before trusting our frail canoe 
upon it we decide to investigate. Close at 



DOWN A NORTHERN RIVER 149 

hand is a pathway through the woods and 
landing here we follow the stream as it roars 
over its rocky bed. The trail descends 
steeply and a few moments later we come 
out upon a second and smaller lake with the 
stream falling in a cataract into its waters. 
We now know that the trail is a portage, 
that in order to reach the second lake and 
thus continue down the river we must carry 
our canoe overland, and we are thankful that 
it is such a light and easily-handled craft. 
Once more seated in our canoe upon the 
second lake we paddle rapidly along the 
shore and find a large, smoothly-flowing 
river leading from it through a cleft in the 
hills. And here we find the rocky banks 
very different from anything we have seen 
before. They are carved and cut and worn 
in queer grotesque forms. In several places 
we see big caverns extending into the cliffs. 
In other spots the rock seems to be painted 
or whitewashed and when we pick up a 
fragment of the rock to examine it we find 
to our surprise that it is made up of count- 
less shells, some perfect, others mere frag- 



i 5 o RIVERS AND THEIR MYSTERIES 

ments, but all cemented together and as hard 
as the surrounding gray rock. How, we 
wonder, did these shells come here to this hill 
miles from the sea? But a geologist would 
solve the riddle for us in an instant. He 
would tell us that long ages ago no river 
flowed here; that in those far-distant times 
these rocky cliffs were covered by many 
feet of water, that the country was once the 
bottom of a vast inland sea or lake and the 
hard limestone rock was then soft mud or 
ooze in which the dead shells sunk and 
that, through some movement of the earth's 
crust, the land rose, the water of the great 
lake drained off and the mud, with its con- 
tained shells, gradually was transformed to 
rock. The geologist, also, would go far- 
ther; he would explain that the red sand- 
stone, through which the brook cut its way, 
had once been the sandy shores or bed of a 
prehistoric stream or bay; that it had once 
overlaid the granite and that, through the 
ages, the softer sandstone had been worn 
away by the elements until only fragments 
here and there remained. He would also 



DOWN A NORTHERN RIVER 151 

tell us many other interesting facts about 
our river and the fascinating history of the 
country through which it passes, for, to the 
geologist, the banks of a river are an open 
book telling, to those who can read them, 
much of the past history of our old earth. 

Soon after leaving the limestone cliffs with 
their fossil shells behind, the river flows be- 
neath an iron bridge and we come to a small 
town beside the stream. Here we find busy 
mills and factories; buzzing saw-mills, rum- 
bling grist-mills, noisy machine-shops and a 
tannery, all running by the power of our 
river whose waters, confined by a broad, low 
dam and led into sluice-ways, turns the big 
turbine wheels in their pits beneath the mills. 
Here, too, we will find straight-sided, bluff- 
bowed canal boats, a few power boats and 
perhaps a small steamer, for our tiny trout 
brook has now developed into a large river 
which constantly widens and deepens as we 
resume our journey. Stream after stream 
flows into it, town after town and village 
after village is passed. Each mile, as we 
go downstream we find the houses and set- 



iS2 RIVERS AND THEIR MYSTERIES 

tlements along the banks increasing. Each 
day we see more and more river craft. We 
pass great rafts of logs drifting slowly close 
to shore; we meet big, smoke-belching, stern- 
wheel steamers breasting their way upstream ; 
motor boats speed by and long strings of 
barges and canal boats move slowly along to 
the pull of powerful tugs. The river is a 
busy thoroughfare and beyond the banks, 
now a mile and more apart, stretch wide, 
well-tilled fields of grain, corn and vege- 
tables. Here and there monstrous iron bridges 
span the waters and far above our heads rail- 
way trains roar, trolley cars and trucks rum- 
ble, motor cars glide and pedestrians gaze 
down upon the passing craft beneath. Far, 
far away, is the tumbling brook and its spec- 
kled trout; for distant are the firs and 
birches. The trilling thrush and friendly 
chickadees are things of another world, but 
still our river supports a teeming, living 
world of its own. Song sparrows still sing 
their rollicking melodies on the outskirts of 
the towns. In marshy spots the red-wings 
still whistle as sweetly as back in the country 



DOWN A NORTHERN RIVER 153 

meadow. Elms, willows and maples rise 
above the banks and in little backwaters and 
side creeks we might still find frogs and 
turtles and even caddice-worms and dragon- 
fly larvae; in the muddy, dirty water we 
can still catch fish — great, ugly catfish 
mainly, with a few mullet or other fish, 
while, in the spring, shad and sturgeon, with 
now and then a lordly salmon, still make 
their way up the busy river to lay their eggs 
in the upper reaches of the stream in the 
same spots in which their ancestors laid 
theirs centuries before the first man ven- 
tured on the waters of the river. 

Then one day, we discover that we are no 
longer drifting down with the current; to 
our wonder we find ourselves being carried 
upstream — the river seems to be flowing 
backwards. We have struck tidewater and 
while we find the water still fresh yet 
the tides of the sea, flowing into the river's 
mouth, forces the fresh water of the stream 
backwards. Slowly we paddle on against 
the tide; we reach an area of vast, grassy 
meadows stretching for miles on either 



154 RIVERS AND THEIR MYSTERIES 

hand. Along the ill-smelling black mud at 
the roots of the coarse reeds and stiff grass, 
odd fiddler-crabs scuttle into their holes or 
stare impudently at us with their single, huge 
claws held menacingly forward. As the tide 
recedes and leaves vast areas of the mud 
bare, we see clusters of mussels and the 
bleached shells of oysters scattered about, 
and we feel the salt tang of sea air. Far 
ahead we see the smoking chimneys, the 
lofty buildings and the slender spires of a 
great city. Docks and wharves come into 
view, big steamships and sailing vessels 
throng the river or lie moored at the piers; 
ferryboats spatter hurriedly from shore to 
shore like gigantic whirligig beetles, while 
the river, which began so cleanly and purely 
in that distant mountain gorge, is filthy with 
sewerage, floating rubbish and patches of oil 
and coal dust. Then the last, outlying dock 
is passed, the last squalid hut of the city is 
left behind; our league-wide river opens out 
between sandy beaches; before us stretches 
the limitless horizon of the ocean and our 
craft bobs and courtesies to the long swell. 



DOWN A NORTHERN RIVER 155 

We have reached the river's mouth; we have 
followed our tiny trout stream to its end, we 
have seen how, throughout its long journey, 
it has served our fellow men. For long it 
has been a slave, for many scores of miles it 
has done man's bidding; it has turned his 
mill wheels, has watered his crops, has pro- 
vided him with food, has carried him safely 
on its bosom. But now once more it is free 
and unfettered and like a giant unleashed it 
joins hands with the mighty ocean and leaps 
and dances and roars in white-crested rollers 
upon the clean sea beach. 



Chapter IX 

A JOURNEY UP A TROPICAL 
RIVER 

For many days we have been steaming south- 
ward across a sea of deepest ultramarine, but 
now, as we gaze ahead searching for the first 
sight of the distant land, we find that the 
marvellously colored sea is beginning to lose 
its brilliant azure tint and is becoming dull 
greenish. Rapidly the color deepens and 
presently our ship is ploughing through 
water of a dirty brown and to our enquiries 
the captain replies that it is due to the mud 
carried down by the great river whose mouth 
we are approaching. Far ahead, and 
stretching to east and west, we catch a 
glimpse of the coast and we note the strange 
effect of clumps and masses of trees rising 
from the rim of the sea, for so low are the 
shores that long before the land is visible 
the higher trees are seen. Then, rising 

156 



UP A TROPICAL RIVER 157 

among the masses of bluish green, we see the 
lofty chimneys of sugar mills, the slender 
wireless towers and the higher buildings of 
a town and still there seems to be no solid 
ground for them to rest upon. But as the 
ship slows down to take on the dusky pilot 
and then threads her way from buoy to buoy 
towards the port, the real shores appear with 
the trees and buildings rising from them and 
in one spot a broad opening which marks 
the river whose mouth we are now entering. 
But such a mouth! Had the genial captain 
not told us we should have thought we were 
still upon the sea, for no land is in sight on 
either side and we learn that the river 
is nearly forty miles in width at this spot! 
As we proceed we find that much of the 
land which we took for the coast of the 
great southern continent is but the shores of 
islands, some of them a score or more of 
miles in length, which are scattered about 
in these lower reaches of the river. But all 
about us are interesting things to be seen. 
Flocks of black-headed gulls flutter and cry 
in our wake, a string of great, clumsy peli- 



158 RIVERS AND THEIR MYSTERIES 

cans come winging across the dark brown 
river so close to the surface that their wing 
tips seem to touch the water. Overhead, 
frigate birds wheel in great circles on mo- 
tionless wings and a school of river dolphins 
leap and play a short distance ahead. Now 
too, the banks of the river are distinguish- 
able, the docks and piers of the city are in 
view and above them rise the masts and fun- 
nels of many ships. Then, above the roofs, 
we see the nodding palm trees; buildings 
detach themselves from the greenery and 
soon we are alongside the dock and our over- 
seas journey is at an end. It is an interest- 
ing, foreign spot, but we are here to take 
a trip up the great river that flows for hun- 
dreds of miles from the far-distant, un- 
explored mountain fastnesses through mar- 
vellous, untamed jungles and the city and 
its attractions must not detain us. Boarding 
a little river steamer we set forth on our 
journey and head up the great river. Every- 
where are the black and muddy shores cov- 
ered with a low growth of dense mangrove 
trees and as our steamer swings to one side 



UP A TROPICAL RIVER 159 

and follows the channel close to the bank, 
great flocks of herons rise from their feed- 
ing places and flap on white or blue wings 
into the branches of the trees. In one spot, 
as we round a bend, we see a strange patch 
of vivid scarlet upon the black mud and 
while we are wondering what it may be it 
suddenly springs into life and is trans- 
formed into a scarlet cloud and as it settles 
upon the trees, giving them the appearance 
of having blood-red leaves, we realize that 
we are gazing at a flock of the rare and 
beautiful scarlet ibis. Rare I say; but not 
rare here ; in fact, so common, such an every- 
day sight that the natives pay no more heed 
to them than if they were so many insigni- 
ficant sparrows. But already our attention 
has been diverted from the wonderful birds 
as we see a gigantic crocodile basking upon 
the mud, and then, having learned to dis- 
tinguish the scaly reptiles from the stranded 
logs, we discover that there is not one but 
scores upon the banks. 

For hour after hour we travel, constantly 
seeing new and interesting birds and beasts; 



160 RIVERS AND THEIR MYSTERIES 

constantly passing along the interminable 
mangrove swamps that border the river. 
Now and then we meet a huge, square, box- 
like boat or lighter drifting slowly with the 
stream, its load of firewood piled high, a 
ragged negro steering lazily with a huge oar 
and a ridiculously small sail made of old 
gunny-sacks spread to yards and masts of 
giant bamboos. So slowly does the lighter 
move that we wonder if it ever will reach 
its destination, but time is of no object and 
if it takes two or three tides for the lighter- 
man to make his down journey of a dozen 
miles and as many more to return he will be 
quite satisfied. Then, when we have begun 
to think the mangroves will never end, we 
see larger trees ahead, the banks seem higher 
and drier, a few palm trees show above the 
brush, the roof of a building peeps from 
among the foliage and as the little steamer 
slows down a boat pulls out from shore. 
Manned by half-naked negroes, the craft 
paddles alongside and we almost feel as 
though we were on one of our own southern 
rivers, for the boat is an almost perfect coun- 



UP A TROPICAL RIVER 161 

terpart of the familiar, darkey flat-boat. On- 
ward up the stream we go once more and 
ever as we proceed the banks grow higher 
and drier, the mangroves decrease and are 
replaced by hardwoods and thickets of palm ; 
along the water's edge we see masses of giant, 
lily-like plants ten feet or more in height 
with immense arrow-shaped leaves like our 
own arrow-head magnified a thousandfold. 

In little coves and backwaters the stream 
is covered with thousands of the immense 
six-foot leaves of the giant Victoria Regia 
lily with the great wax-white flowers every- 
where among them. Over the huge, saucer- 
shaped leaves, odd, long-toed, brown jacanas 
run nimbly and appear like some sort of 
enormous butterflies as they spread their 
sulphur-yellow wings in fluttering, erratic 
flights. 

Here and there, on little sandy knolls or 
in small clearings, we catch glimpses of tiny, 
thatched cottages. From the landing-place 
before one of these a huge dugout canoe 
darts out and as our ship slows down and the 
craft bobs along beside us to receive a few T 



1 62 RIVERS AND THEIR MYSTERIES 

packages and mail, we see that its crew is 
composed of bronze-skinned, stocky, pleasant- 
faced Arowak Indians. Then once more we 
resume our journey; a low, rocky islet is 
passed in mid-stream, ahead we see good- 
sized hills covered with forest, the shores 
show areas of gray granite and far away 
appears a little town. Here we draw into a 
tiny wharf and are surprised to see that it 
towers far above our decks and then, as we 
notice the water-soaked, muddy spiles it 
dawns upon us that we are still where the 
tide rises and falls for a dozen feet, although 
over fifty miles from the sea. 

At this little settlement at the limit of 
steamer navigation we step ashore and a few 
hours later are seated in a large river boat 
or coorial. The boat is very different from 
anything we have seen, a heavily built craft 
of native wood with no stem or stern posts, 
but with a rounded, spoon-shaped bottom. 
But we will soon learn why the boat is thus 
made and now turn our attention to the crew. 
Six of them are bronze-skinned Indians; 
short, stocky and with enormous chest and 



UP A TROPICAL RIVER 163 

shoulder muscles from constant paddling. In 
the bow stands a colored man whose features 
and skin show a strain of Indian blood and 
at the stern stands the captain, a gaunt, eld- 
erly mulatto. Each of the crew grasps a 
strong, hardwood paddle, the bowman holds 
a huge paddle, five or six feet in length, and 
at the stern a still larger paddle is slung in 
a bight of rope to serve as the captain's rud- 
der. At last all is ready, the provisions, 
supplies and luggage are stowed, we are 
seated comfortably under the rounded awn- 
ing or "tent" of palm leaves in the stern and 
with a shout from the captain the six paddles 
dig into the water as one and our boat surges 
forward up the river. 

Steadily and in perfect unison the men 
paddle, singing a weird, Indian chant as 
they ma*ke the heavy boat fairly fly and ever 
and anon changing the song suddenly and 
altering their stroke at the same time. 
Quickly the shores slip past, soon the little 
town is left behind and on either hand, 
stretching ahead as far as we can see, rise 
the huge trees of the unbroken forest. Close 



1 64 RIVERS AND THEIR MYSTERIES 

to the shore we sweep along, the further 
banks hazy and indistinct over three miles 
away. Winging rapidly in pairs and flocks 
screaming parrots fly overhead, great ma- 
caws in scarlet, yellow and blue screech at 
us from the lofty trees, toucans with gro- 
tesque bills clatter among the foliage and 
everywhere we hear the cries and songs of 
strange birds. From time to time enormous, 
sky-blue, morpho butterflies flit above the 
water; we see innumerable new and interest- 
ing forms of vegetation and we long to step 
ashore and penetrate the mysterious jungle. 
But we have many miles to travel and our 
men are anxious to make the first rapids ere 
nightfall and we hurry on. At noon the boat 
is swung inshore and run upon a stretch of 
sandy beach and as the men prepare the noon- 
day meal we stroll along the banks and even 
push for a short distance into the jungle, but 
we cannot go far, for the clinging and trail- 
ing vines, the spiny palms, the creepers, the 
saw-grass and the trees form a dense, im- 
penetrable barrier through which one must 
hew a way in order to travel a hundred feet. 



UP A TROPICAL RIVER 165 

Even our brief excursion into the edge of 
this forest shows us many things of interest, 
however. We note that the large trees widen 
out into strange, flattened buttresses at their 
bases, that the roots of many of them sprawl 
and twist for long distances upon the surface 
of the ground and our curiosity is aroused 
by several trees, among them lofty palms, 
whose trunks end several feet above the earth 
and are supported by innumerable, slender 
roots like wire cables. We wonder why these 
things should be, but if we should visit the 
spot during the rainy season when the river, 
swollen by torrential, tropic downpours, rises 
above its banks and floods the jungle for miles 
inland, we would understand. Then, with 
the forest floor a vast lake and with the turbid 
waters swirling about the trees we would find 
that the broad roots grasping and clinging to 
a vast area of earth prove a far safer an- 
chorage for the large trees than ordinary 
roots, while the slender cables holding up 
the palms present little resistance to the swift- 
flowing water and support the trunk above 
the level of the flood. Moreover, if we 



1 66 RIVERS AND THEIR MYSTERIES 

should dig into the earth beneath our feet 
we would find that it is composed entirely of 
dead and decaying leaves and vegetation, 
that there is little or no true soil and that a 
few feet under the surface there is solid rock. 
Often, in times of floods, great areas of this 
forest floor break loose, and still bearing the 
mighty trees, which bind the ground together 
with their roots, float free and are carried 
downstream in the form of wooded islands 
Sometimes these floating islands are broken 
up and washed to pieces, at other times they 
become stranded at the edge of the river and 
soon become a part of the forest once more, 
while, very often, they ground on bars or 
rocks and form wooded islands in midstream 
which no one would dream had once been 
bits of the distant jungle torn free by the 
swollen river current. 

Our noonday meal over, we again take our 
places in the coorial and for several hours 
paddle up the river. Often we pass the 
mouths of little streams or creeks — dark, 
mysterious, inviting spots with their tangle 
of strange tropic plants, their slender, grace- 



UP A TROPICAL RIVER 167 

ful palms, their weird air-plants and blazing 
orchids. Then the current becomes swifter, 
the banks become rocky and presently we 
are paddling between charming little islands, 
some covered with trees and shrubs, others 
like emerald mounds of grass and others 
bare rocks carved into grotesque forms like 
strange monsters. And as we pass close to 
them we can see the high water mark of the 
river, the limit of the rainy season floods, 
clearly defined upon the rocks a score of feet 
above our heads and we realize the terrific 
power and irresistible force of the river when 
in flood as we notice huge tree trunks, forty 
or fifty feet in length, cast high and dry 
upon the summits of these rocky islands. 

Between them the river swirls and eddies, 
great flocks of twittering, blue-green swal- 
lows wheel and dip and skim all about, an 
otter slips from a ledge and swims across 
the channel ahead and flocks of cormorants 
perch upon the branches of the waterside 
trees. Then, far ahead, we see a line of 
white crossing the river, and the faint roar 
of the falls is borne to our ears and half an 



1 68 RIVERS AND THEIR MYSTERIES 

hour later our coorial is run upon a tiny 
sand beach on an islet just below the first 
falls. Here camp is made and as our In- 
dians stretch the canvas for our shelter and 
light their camp fires we stroll about the 
island and study its many interesting fea- 
tures. Upon the damp sand we see the tracks 
of some animal, and curiously following 
them, come suddenly upon a little herd of 
capybara, odd creatures like gigantic guinea 
pigs, which take to the water like ducks and 
swim to the opposite shore at our approach. 
A bit further on we surprise a dainty, slen- 
der-necked sun-bittern whose wings, as he 
flits in soft, short flights before us, look like 
the rays from an orange sun, while all about 
us the pretty, gray, red-headed finches twitter 
and flutter about along the water's edge. 

Returning to the camp we think what a 
lovely spot it is for a swim and are about 
to disrobe when our boat captain shouts a 
warning and explains that to enter the river 
would be to invite sure and terrible death. 
The water, he says, teems with the dreaded 
Perai or cannibal fish which would tear us 



UP A TROPICAL RIVER 169 

to pieces in a moment. We can scarcely 
credit the tale, but to prove it is so, the negro 
tosses a bit of meat into the river and in- 
stantly a score of great silvery fish leap at it, 
churning the water into foam, snapping and 
tearing with savage jaws and madly attacking 
one another in their struggles. Then, to 
show us what manner of fish these creatures 
are, the captain baits a line and a moment 
later yanks a Perai onto the sand. As it flaps 
about, snapping its jaws like steel traps and 
uttering low, savage grunts, the men give it 
a wide berth. But at last its struggles cease 
and after killing it with a blow on the head 
the old man picks it up and we examine its 
teeth and jaws. Then we realize how such 
a small fish can prove so dangerous, for the 
enormous, powerful jaws are equipped with 
razor-edge teeth, all joined to form a solid 
continuous row of saw-like points, so ar- 
ranged that the upper and lower teeth fit 
tightly and perfectly together, and when the 
captain informs us that an eighteen-inch 
Perai can bite a piece from an inch-plank we 



i yo RIVERS AND THEIR MYSTERIES 

can readily believe him and we thank our 
stars that we did not take our bath. 

As we eat our evening meal and darkness 
falls over the river innumerable night-jars 
flit softly about uttering their querulous calls, 
we hear the low grunting of a herd of pec- 
caries from the bush on the nearby river 
bank, fish splash in the quiet water near the 
beach and from far off in the jungle a 
jaguar screams. 

At daybreak the next morning we are up, 
and ere the sun has risen above the banks of 
mist above the forest, our coorial is headed 
towards the falls. We wonder how the 
men expect to get the heavy boat and its 
cargo up the roaring, tumbling water, but 
we are not long left in doubt. Running the 
boat alongside a rocky ledge the captain re- 
quests us to step ashore and as we obey, the 
men uncoil long ropes and prepare for their 
battle with the cataract. One rope is at- 
tached to the bow, another to the stern and 
while two of the men hold the boat in place 
against the rock, the others work their way 
upstream above the falls. Here, with some 



UP A TROPICAL RIVER 171 

standing waist deep in the rushing current, 
others standing upon slippery, water-washed 
rocks, and all grasping the stout rope they 
await the captain's orders. Meanwhile, the 
stern line is carried ashore, two men brace 
themselves as they hold it and, at the cap- 
tain's word, the men on the bow rope tug 
and strain, the captain pulls with his 
huge paddle, the men on the stern line 
swing the boat free from fang-like, jagged 
rocks and aid their fellows and slowly the 
boat moves up the foaming rapids and into 
the comparatively smooth water beyond. It 
is all done so skillfully, so orderly and so 
quickly that we scarcely realize the difficul- 
ties and the strength required or the dangers 
that threaten both men and boat. But al- 
though the worst parts of the falls are passed 
there is still a long stretch of racing, foam- 
ing rapids ahead and as the men work and 
haul the boat through these we pick our way 
over the rocks. We note that most of the 
rocks are dull, reddish granite curiously 
carved and worn and with innumerable pot- 
holes and when we examine them more 



172 RIVERS AND THEIR MYSTERIES 

closely we discover that they are filled with 
irregular veins and masses of a darker, finer 
grained rock and that the erosion or wearing 
of the granite has left these harder masses 
exposed and has thus produced the oddly 
carved and irregular masses. We find, too, 
that instead of being bare and lacking in 
vegetation the rocky ledges are everywhere 
covered with a low, strange growth of a 
pinkish color — tiny, wiry stems bearing odd 
little blossoms whose roots are cemented 
firmly to the bare stone and which at a dis- 
tance give the rocks a peculiar, fuzzy appear- 
ance as though they bore a stubble of beard. 
Had we been here a few weeks earlier we 
would have found that all these rocks were 
covered with a dense, lush green, weed-like 
growth like gigantic lettuce leaves and that 
the stems and flowers, which we now see, are 
all that remain of these remarkable plants. 
As we walk along noting these things great 
clouds of sulphur-yellow butterflies rise 
and settle and flutter about, saucy yellow 
and white headed kiskadee flycatchers chal- 
lenge us with sharp, harsh cries from the 



UP A TROPICAL RIVER 173 

stunted guava bushes growing in the crevices 
of the rocks; big, green lizards scuttle from 
our pathway and charming humming birds 
hover before gay-hued blooms of orchids and 
flowering shrubs, and yet, where we are now 
standing, a raging torrent flowed and roared 
less than a month before. By now the boat 
has been hauled above the rapids, and once 
more we take our seats and are paddled up- 
stream. It is a constant battle, a never- 
ceasing struggle for the men, for the current 
runs like a mill-race; wicked, sharp-edged 
rocks project above the surface of the stream 
and the bowman is kept ever busy swinging 
the craft into the narrow channels while the 
men paddle with all their strength and the 
captain deftly guides the boat between the 
rocks. Presently, however, a stretch of smooth 
tranquil water is reached, the men paddle 
easily and rest their tired muscles and we 
exclaim in delight at the beauty of the scene. 
In twin walls of green the jungle-clad shores 
tower above the river, the trees so interlaced 
and woven together with vines and creepers 
that they appear as though draped with green 



174 RIVERS AND THEIR MYSTERIES 

velvet, while here and there, some towering 
tree is ablaze with mauve, yellow, scarlet 
or white flowers which, dropping to the 
water below, cover the river's surface with a 
multicolored carpet. Everywhere the swal- 
lows flit; from resting places on tree trunks 
flocks of vampire bats flutter off at our ap- 
proach to alight and become, apparently, 
transformed to bits of bark upon another 
tree; from the forests come the cries of 
macaws, parrots and toucans; we catch a 
glimpse of a troop of white-faced monkeys 
romping through the tree tops, dainty terns 
and long-winged skimmers preen themselves 
on sand bars in the stream and far overhead 
a great king vulture sails. But the greatest 
beauty is in the river itself — the water, dark 
brown from the stain of decaying vegetation 
is as smooth as glass and on it the sky, the 
forest, each tree and twig and drooping palm 
— even the great azure butterflies and sweep- 
ing swallows — are reflected by the oil-like 
surface to such perfection that we cannot say 
which is water and which land and we have 
the strange sensation of floating on air be- 



UP A TROPICAL RIVER 175 

tween two forests, one right side up, the 
other upside down. 

A mile or two of this and then once more 
the foaming rapids ahead. Again the te- 
dious labor of hauling through and then, as 
we once more embark, the captain cautions 
us to sit tight and hold fast as just ahead is 
an enormous whirlpool which our craft must 
cross. Gathering all their strength our In- 
dians grip their paddles firmly, the bowman 
braces himself for the supreme effort and 
at the captain's shout the boat darts forward. 
All about the water swirls and eddies, we 
can feel the boat tremble and shake as the 
men paddle furiously to overcome the drag 
of the current. Then the centre of the mael- 
strom is reached, our boat hangs motionless, 
the bow rises and the stern sinks down, we 
hold our breaths and thrill with excitement 
as we watch this battle between the men and 
the river and we almost forget the peril 
which hovers over us. Should a paddle 
break, should a man miss a stroke, our craft 
would instantly be helpless in the whirlpool 
and in a moment we would be capsized and 



176 RIVERS AND THEIR MYSTERIES 

drawn down to our deaths; but the paddles 
are stout and strong, the Indians are skilled 
and experienced in navigating these danger 
spots and presently, inch at a time, our boat 
forges ahead, the worst of the whirlpool is 
passed and a minute later we are in the calm 
water beyond. 

Then, just as we feel safe once more, our 
boat grounds with a sickening, grating thud 
upon a submerged rock. Quick as a flash the 
men leap over the side and in the water to 
their armpits lift and shove the boat free. 
And now we realize why these river boats 
are built with spoon-shaped bottoms. A flat- 
bottomed boat, or one with a keel, would 
be jammed hard and fast upon the rocks and 
all its cargo would have to be discharged ere 
it could be freed, but the native craft, with 
a bottom rounded and curved in every direc- 
tion, is easily pushed off without danger of 
injury or capsizing. A short distance fur- 
ther on we come to a roaring waterfall a 
score of feet in height and here our captain 
tells us a portage must be made and all the 



UP A TROPICAL RIVER 177 

cargo discharged, carried around the falls 
and reloaded on the other side. 

As the men busy themselves unloading the 
boat and carrying the boxes, bags and pack- 
ages around the falls, we wander about, ex- 
amining the trees and plants, the shores and 
the rocks. We find that here the coarse- 
grained rock is cut by a great dyke or seam 
of black, fine-grained diorite and tracing 
this along we find that it is this dyke which 
has caused the waterfall. Above it the river 
has cut and worn the country rock into a deep 
bed and below it the tumbling waters have 
hollowed a vast basin, but the flint-like dio- 
rite has resisted the water and the grinding 
sand and pebbles and still stands, like a solid 
dam, barring the river. At one side, how- 
ever, there is a break or crack and here the 
water has forced a way and flows in a narrow, 
gurgling, noisy brook around the dam to 
where it joins the river below. It is a pretty 
spot, shaded with great trees, bordered with 
giant ferns and bright flowering plants and 
as we stand admiring it our attention is at- 
tracted to one of our Indians who is stealth- 



178 RIVERS AND THEIR MYSTERIES 

ily hurrying over the rocks with an enormous 
bow and arrow in his hands. Presently he 
stands reect, peers intently into the foaming 
water, draws his bow to his ear and sends the 
long arrow like a streak of light into the 
rapids. Casting aside his bow, he darts for- 
ward, grasps the floating arrow and to our 
surprise, drags forth a huge, flapping fish. 
It is the first time we have seen the Indians 
shoot fish in the rapids and we marvel that 
the redman can see his finny prey in the 
foaming torrent and are amazed at his 
almost incredible marksmanship, but as we 
dine on the delicious "pacu" fish later we 
are thankful that our men are native Indians 
with the knowledge and skill to keep us sup- 
plied with fish in this remarkable manner. 

Then, for a time, we watch the men, as 
toiling and sweating, but doggedly persever- 
ing, they lift and haul the heavy boat 
through the roaring, foaming water at one 
end of the falls and at last, by dint of almost 
superhuman strength, raise it to the verge 
of the cataract. Half filled with water, but 
unscathed, the coorial now rests in the water 



UP A TROPICAL RIVER 179 

above the falls and the men busy themselves 
bailing it out and stowing the cargo. Mean- 
while, we have been attracted by the glis- 
tening black sand lying in little beds between 
the rocks and scooping some up in our hands 
we examine it closely to see why it is so black 
and brilliant. Noticing what we are doing 
our bowman approaches and asks if we are 
looking for gold. Thinking he is joking we 
laugh at the question, but he assures us that 
the river carries gold in its sands and rum- 
maging in his dunnage bag he brings out a 
conical-bottomed, iron basin or pan. Scoop- 
ing up a quantity of the black sand in this 
he squats by the river side, and half filling 
his pan with water, twirls it rapidly back 
and forth. At each movement a small quan- 
tity of water and sand slops over the edge 
of the pan and we watch him curiously and 
with a sort of fascination as he deftly washes 
out the sand and gravel until, at last, only 
a little ridge of fine black sand remains. 
Then, with a quick flirt of his pan, he throws 
off the last of the water and holds the pan 
toward us with a grin on his dusky face. 



180 RIVERS AND THEIR MYSTERIES 

Spread upon the bottom of the pan is a little 
crescent of fine black sand and along its edge 
gleam several tiny flakes of yellow gold. In- 
stantly the fever of gold hunting grips us 
and for an hour or more our trip is delayed 
as we try our hands at panning out the sand. 
But we find it is a trick we cannot learn in 
an hour or even a day and although we suc- 
ceed in a way and are rewarded by several 
more "colors" we decide that riches would 
be too dearly earned in this way and at last 
give up. Then, as we paddle up stream, our 
captain tells us that only in the side creeks 
is gold to be found in paying quantities and 
that in some of these are sluices and long- 
toms where gold is being recovered from 
the gravels and that diamonds also are ob- 
tained in several of the creeks. 

We now notice that the character of the 
river has greatly altered. The shores, though 
still two miles or more apart, are hidden by 
numerous islands between which the river 
runs in swift, erratic, winding channels; the 
rock is no longer the dull-gray granite or the 
black diorite, but a coarse red rock which 



UP A TROPICAL RIVER 181 

we find upon examination is a sandstone 
filled with rounded pebbles and which at a 
short distance appears like soft sand and 
gravel. 

We land for our midday meal upon 
a little islet and here we find a number of 
interesting things and learn a great deal 
about the river from the story it has written 
in the rocks. All along the shores we find 
the conglomerate sandstone deeply grooved 
and cut, just as we found the rocks grooved 
in our northern river, and searching further, 
we find innumerable pot-holes, some below 
the water, others high and dry, some sharply 
defined while others have been worn and en- 
larged until the walls between them have 
broken away and huge oval or oblong de- 
pressions have been formed. We are not sur- 
prised at this, for the conglomerate is soft, 
and the pebbles and rocks in the bottoms of 
the pot-holes are hard as flint and the eddies 
and currents of the stream flow swiftly; but 
when, on the very summit of our island, we 
find similar grooves and holes, we realize 
that at some long past time the mighty river 



1 82 RIVERS AND THEIR MYSTERIES 

swirled and flowed many feet above its pres- 
ent level; and that what is now the top of 
the island was then the bottom of the river 
bed; that through the centuries the stream 
has cut its way deeper and deeper into the 
conglomerate until it has worn down the 
stone to its present level. But there are still 
facts which puzzle us and which we must 
solve by observation and reasoning. Perhaps 
our knowledge of geology may tell us that 
the conglomerate was once the pebble-filled 
sand of a vast prehistoric river and which 
has gradually been hardened into stone; but 
this does not explain why the little masses of 
rock which form the islands should have been 
spared as the water cut and wore its way. 
And this is a hard question for us to answer. 
Perchance these particular spots may have 
been slightly harder than the surrounding 
material and therefore resisted the ruthless 
grinding of the water-borne stones and peb- 
bles until the rock about was cut so deeply 
that their summits projected above the water 
and the river was obliged to recede and aban- 
don its efforts to level the islands. Or, per- 






UP A TROPICAL RIVER 183 

haps, as a river follows the path of least 
resistance and the lowest levels, the islands 
were spared because they were higher than 
the rest of the prehistoric river bed and thus 
retained their elevation above the valley 
which forms the present river bed. But if 
this were the solution why, we may ask, 
should these present islands have been higher 
than the surrounding rocks in the first place 
if all the conglomerate formed the bed of a 
gigantic stream? But we must remember 
that the bed of a river is not level or smooth, 
any more than the bed of the ocean, that the 
sand or mud upon the bottom is uneven and 
irregular, that where there are narrow, swift 
currents there are deep channels, that where 
the current is interrupted or retarded there 
are bars and shoals, that a slight obstruction 
may produce an island and that where the 
water pours over a ledge or rock a deep basin 
may be formed. So, just as we find such 
conditions in the soft bed of a river today, 
they must have existed in those ancient times 
when the conglomerate was gravel and sand 
at the bottom of a stupendous stream. Then, 



1 84 RIVERS AND THEIR MYSTERIES 

through some alteration in the surface of the 
country, the land was slightly raised, the vast 
prehistoric river drained away and disap- 
peared, its empty bed was transformed to 
conglomerate with its channels, bars, pools 
and depressions intact and ages later, when 
a new river sought a way to the sea, it fol- 
lowed the ancient channels and wore them 
deeper and deeper until what were once sand 
bars rose above the flowing water in the form 
of islands. 

But there are also many other inter- 
esting things upon the shores of our river 
island, things which teach us much about the 
river's life. Upon a tiny patch of sand we 
find the tracks of a big turtle and after a brief 
search we discover its nest filled with round, 
soft-shelled eggs. We frighten a huge, seven 
foot iguana from its basking place and watch 
with interest as the great lizard leaps far 
out into the stream and swims to a neighbor- 
ing islet; we find giant fresh-water snails 
washed upon the shores and in the little win- 
rows of drift among the rocks we find strange 
seeds, odd nuts and innumerable giant beet- 



UP A TROPICAL RIVER 185 

les. Perhaps we may even come unexpect- 
edly upon a great anaconda, fifteen to twenty 
feet in length, coiled upon some sunny rock. 
He is a monstrous creature, terrifying at first, 
but harmless and takes to the water as read- 
ily as the iguana, for many of the reptiles, 
mammals and birds that inhabit the banks, or 
the vicinity, of a tropical river are amphibi- 
ous, a wise foresight on nature's part to 
prevent them from being drowned when 
the rivers rise and overflow the surround- 
ing forests. 

Soon after leaving the island, we pass 
a quiet, shaded expanse and across the water 
before our bows a number of fresh-water 
flying-fish skitter away and a moment later 
we see the odd, goggly, protruding eyes of 
curious "four-eyed fishes" as they swim rap- 
idly from the path of our boat. So, for day 
after day, we paddle up the river, each day 
finding more and more rapids, occasionally 
making portages around falls, stopping now 
and then to visit the simple, friendly Indians 
who dwell in thatched open huts up the side 
creeks; once or twice leaving the river to 



1 86 RIVERS AND THEIR MYSTERIES 

paddle up some shady creek to a gold or 
diamond placer and ever penetrating deeper 
and deeper into the wilderness. 

Gradually the country becomes higher and 
more rugged; above the forest tops we catch 
glimpses of far-off blue peaks, the hills in- 
crease in height and the river flows beneath 
frowning precipices and cloud-draped, 
wooded mountains. Then we enter a deep 
and narrow gorge — a stupendous cleft 
through the solid rock — a vast canon whose 
seamed and scarred sides are worn into weird 
shapes and terraces and we know that once 
our river flowed in a bed hundreds of feet 
about our heads, that slowly but irresistibly 
the stream has hewn its way down through the 
solid rock, leaving behind it the carved pin- 
nacles and castellated strata to mark its han- 
diwork. And now, before us, at the end of 
this gorge, we see a marvellous sight — an im- 
mense column of water, an awe-inspiring 
cataract plunging down for hundreds of 
feet. Here is the end of our boat journey, 
if we are to trace the river further we must 
go afoot, and shouldering our packs and 



UP A TROPICAL RIVER 187 

with the Indians, laden like packhorses, lead- 
ing the way, we clamber up the rough, steep 
mountain side until we gain the summit and 
come forth upon another world. Gone are 
the vast forests and the jungles and in their 
place we see giant, lily-like plants a dozen 
feet in height, great masses of coarse ferns, 
bunches of nodding bluebells and clumps of 
odd, grotesque-flowered orchids. Underfoot 
is smooth, hard rock almost as level as a floor 
and crossing this we approach the verge of 
the falls. At first we are disappointed, for 
the cataract appears far smaller than we 
imagined from the glimpse we had caught 
from the river: but gradually, as our eyes 
and senses become accustomed to the sur- 
roundings, the majesty and size of the falls 
dawn upon us. We discover that the soft, 
green carpet at the bottom of the gorge which 
we mistook for moss and grass is really the 
top of a forest, that the objects we thought 
were pebbles are enormous masses of rocks, 
which have fallen from the precipices which 
hem in the gorge and we note that so tre- 
mendous is the height of the cataract that the 



1 88 RIVERS AND THEIR MYSTERIES 

water is transformed to spray ere it reaches 
the bottom and that a passing breeze blows 
it like smoke to one side and reveals a vast 
cavern carved into the rock below the falls 
by the ceaseless action of the water. Then 
we see where immense masses of the rock 
have broken from the verge of the cataract 
in times past and by carefully examining the 
sides of the canon through our glasses we 
can trace the course of the ever receding falls 
and we realize that the entire gorge has been 
formed by the cataract slowly eating its way 
backward; that ages and ages ago, it roared 
over a brink where now is the far distant 
entrance to the gorge and that in time it will 
be many miles up stream from its present 
position. 

Moreover just as we found the small 
falls down the river were formed by a dyke 
of hard rock which resisted the action of the 
water, so, when we examine the verge of this 
titanic cataract, we find that the falls are 
produced by a layer or strata of hard rock 
overlying the softer rock below, that had 
it not been for this there would be no great 



UP A TROPICAL RIVER 189 

falls but in its place a deep ravine with the 
river roaring over rapids in its bottom. Hav- 
ing discovered all this we know also why 
there is such a huge cavern beneath the falls 
and why the verge of the cataract projects 
far over it and breaks off in great masses 
instead of wearing away evenly and gradu- 
ally. The hard upper layer resists the 
water longer than the softer rock below and 
remains in place until the water has eaten 
away the underlying strata so far that the 
weight of the overhanging ledge is too great 
to be sustained and with a deafening roar it 
falls crashing down and shifts the verge of 
the falls backward for a score of feet. 

We have many miles to travel if we are to 
follow the river to its source, and leaving 
the cataract with regret we follow a trail 
that leads along the river bank. A few 
miles from the falls we find a frail bark 
canoe drawn upon the shore and thankful 
for an opportunity to travel by water we pile 
our dunnage in it and are soon speeding up 
stream. Here the banks are low and flat, 
sometimes rocky, but more often of bril- 



i 9 o RIVERS AND THEIR MYSTERIES 

liant clays or hard-packed sand, and stretch- 
ing away on every hand, are broad, rolling 
grassy plains or savannas, for we are now on 
the high interior plateau or tableland of 
the country. In places the river flows majes- 
tically in great sweeping curves, in others 
it has cut a straight path through the land 
and often it widens out into broad, lake-like 
expanses. As we cross one of these we see 
an isolated steep-sided mountain rising sheer 
from the plains and soon after, our further 
progress is barred by a small waterfall with 
the stream above it so shallow and filled with 
stones that even our light canoe cannot float 
upon it. Now, close at hand, the odd, lone 
mountain rises to the clouds, its precipitous 
sides almost perpendicular and seamed with 
deep gulleys and its summit, as seen through 
our glasses, carved into odd upjutting pillars, 
huge columnar structures, slender pinnacles 
bearing broad table-like masses of stone at 
their summits and other strange forms, the 
whole appearing like the ruins of some 
ancient city on the mountain top. Pick- 
ing our way over the rough boulders 



UP A TROPICAL RIVER 191 

that fill the river bed we draw ever nearer 
to the base of this strange peak and as we 
proceed we find the stream splitting and di- 
viding into innumerable little brooks and 
rills spreading in every direction among the 
immense masses of rocks which have tumbled 
down from the mountain side. Then, at last, 
we can go no farther; stupendous blocks of 
rock bar our pathway, dense brush, razor- 
edged saw-grass and thorny scrub form an 
impenetrable barrier and from between the 
masses of rock the water issues in gurgling 
springs and rills. Then we notice that some 
of these rocks are of hard, close-grained ma- 
terial, while others are of soft, reddish sand- 
stone, and remembering the lesson we learned 
upon our northern river the riddle of this 
isolated, lonely mountain and its oddly worn 
cap is solved. We know now that once, 
when the world was young, this whole vast 
plain was buried hundreds of feet beneath 
the sand which formed the bed of a mighty 
lake or a prehistoric sea, that some titanic 
force raised the continent until the water 
drained away and left the sandy bed to so- 



i 9 2 RIVERS AND THEIR MYSTERIES 

lidify and become sandstone. That through 
it, molten, white-hot lava was forced upward 
in great masses or dykes, that slowly, through 
countless millions of years, the rain and wind 
and water wore the softer rock away and 
left the hardened lava standing solid and 
unscathed above the plain and that the 
layer of sandstone upon its summit, having 
been hardened and molten by the heat, has 
remained, cut, carved and worn by the ele- 
ments to be sure, but still existing as a cap 
upon the titanic monolith ages after all other 
sandstone has disappeared. 

But while all this is very interesting and 
remarkable and our minds cannot grasp or 
conceive of the vast space of time which has 
passed since the plain was the bed of a sea, 
3 r et it does not explain where the water comes 
from to form the rivulets issuing from among 
the rocks. And then, even as we are cudgel- 
ling our brains for an answer to the riddle 
a heavy cloud darkens the sky and sweeps 
low across the mountain top and instantly 
the puzzle is solved. Although the spot 
whereon we stand is still bathed in sunshine, 



UP A TROPICAL RIVER 193 

torrents of rain are falling on the mountain 
top and from every side, from scores of de- 
pressions on the summit, the water pours 
and plunges in innumerable cataracts. It is 
a unique, a wonderful, an amazing sight to 
thus see the lofty peak veiled in waterfalls 
that thunder down for hundreds of feet while 
the spray drifts like a cloud about the pre- 
cipices and gleams with rainbows in the sun. 
And as we gaze spellbound at the marvellous 
scene and the cloud, having given up its 
moisture drifts away and the cataracts 
dwindle to mere threads, we realize that we 
have trailed the mighty river to its source 
and that its source is a mountain top — a stu- 
pendous, natural reservoir a thousand feet 
in air. 



Chapter X 

IMPORTANT AND FAMOUS RIVERS 

We usually think of famous or important 
rivers as large rivers, but famous rivers, like 
famous men, are not always of large size 
and many of the most important and famous 
rivers in the world are comparatively small, 
while names of others many times as large 
are seldom heard. 

Thus the Seine, which has been famous 
for centuries and which is historically a 
most important river, is but 497 miles in 
length; the Rhone, which is another most 
famous and important stream is only 83 miles 
longer; the Rhine, which is Germany's most 
famed river is only 600 miles long, — or the 
same length as the Loire which is much less 
famous; the Elbe is 780 miles from mouth 
to source and the Thames, which is one of 
the most famed and important rivers in 
the world, is only 220 miles long. 

194 



FAMOUS RIVERS 195 

In our own country there are many enor- 
mous rivers, but many of these are far less fa- 
miliar to most people than smaller rivers. 
Our Hudson is but a scant 350 miles long 
and the Potomac is only fifty miles longer, 
while the Rio Grande del Norte, which to 
most of us is merely a name, is 1600 miles 
long or nearly the same length as the Danube 
whose fame and importance is world wide. 
In fact, although Europe's rivers are prob- 
ably more widely known, more famous and 
more important in many ways than the rivers 
of any other part of the world, yet Europe has 
fewer large rivers than Asia, Africa, North 
America or South America. The longest 
river in Europe is the Volga, 2400 miles long 
and this and the Danube are its only rivers 
which are over 1000 miles in length, whereas 
North America possesses eight rivers over 
1000 miles long, South America has six, Af- 
rica has five and Asia leads all other coun- 
tries with nine. Indeed, every one of Asia's 
famous rivers measures over 1000 miles in 
length, the longest being the Yenisei 3400 
miles, followed by the Yang-tse Kiang 3302 



196 RIVERS AND THEIR MYSTERIES 



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COMPARATIVE LENGTHS OF THE WORLD'S GREATEST 
RIVERS 



FAMOUS RIVERS 197 

miles, the Obi 3000 miles, the Amur 2739 
miles, the Hoang Ho 2700 miles, the Indus 
2000 miles, the Euphrates 1750 miles, the 
Ganges 1600 miles and the Mekong 1500 
miles. 

Africa's important rivers also are large 
streams, the longest of all and the second 
longest river in the world being the Nile 
4100 miles long with the next largest, the 
Niger, 3000 miles, followed by the Congo 
2900 miles, the Zambesi 1800 miles and the 
Orange 1000 miles. So too, South America 
has few really well-known rivers which are 
not long, for the fame of a river in a com- 
paratively new or little known country de- 
pends very largely upon its length whereas 
in an old and thickly populated land, the 
fame of a stream depends upon its historical 
associations, its importance to commerce and 
the size of the cities along its banks. Thus, 
in South America, we have the mighty Ama- 
zon over 4000 miles in length, the Rio de la 
Plata 2500 miles, the Paraguay 1600 miles, 
the San Francisco 1600 miles, the Orinoco 
1570 miles, the Tocantins 1000 miles and 



198 RIVERS AND THEIR MYSTERIES 

the Magdalena 900 miles; but who ever 
hears of the Essequibo which is many miles 
longer than the Seine, the Potomac or the 
Rhone, how many of us know that the De- 
merara is longer than our Hudson or the 
Thames, did we ever learn at school that 
the Berbice is a larger river than the Rhine 
or that the Courantyne would put many of 
the most famous rivers of Europe and the 
United States to shame? 

All over South America we find scores of 
rivers larger than the best known streams of 
North America and Europe and even in tiny 
little Panama there are rivers much longer 
than the Potomac, the Hudson or the Con- 
necticut. But if we cannot lay claim to 
having more large rivers or more famous 
rivers than other countries, still we can boast 
that we have the longest river in the world, 
for the Mississippi, with the Missouri, flows 
for 4650 miles, which is over 500 miles 
longer than the Nile and 650 miles longer 
than the Amazon. We have many other 
very large rivers also, such as the Mackenzie 
2300 miles long, the St. Lawrence 2200 miles, 



FAMOUS RIVERS 199 

the Yukon 2000 miles, the Rio Grande 1800 
miles, the Colorado 1759 miles, the Saskatch- 
ewan 1600 miles and the Columbia 1200 
miles. 

But how about Australia, you may ask? 
Somehow, we never think of Australia as 
having large rivers and it comes as a dis- 
tinct surprise to many to learn that Aus- 
tralia possesses two rivers each over 1000 
miles in length; the Darling being 11 60 
miles long and the Murray 11 20 miles, while 
the Waikatu in New Zealand is 250 miles in 
length. 

But mere figures are very uninteresting 
and unsatisfactory things and we can ob- 
tain but a very imperfect idea of the size, 
character or appearance of a river by know- 
ing that it is so many hundreds or thousands 
of miles in length. 

Does the European or South American 
who learns from his geographies that the 
Hudson is 350 miles long and flows into 
New York Bay have any conception of the 
Palisades, of the majesty of the river, of the 
dream-like sky line of the vast city half- 



200 RIVERS AND THEIR MYSTERIES 

veiled in the haze of a summer afternoon, 
or of the teeming commerce that plies up 
and down and back and forth across the 
river? Do our own people, who have never 
been to Europe, picture the Seine at Paris as 
a canal-like stream whose dirty waters are 
scarcely as wide as the Harlem River? We 
read much about the Thames, but until we 
have stood upon the Embankment and un- 
der the graceful arches of its bridges, have 
seen Westminster against the moonlit sky; 
until we have poled a punt along the ter- 
raced gardens and under the drooping wil- 
lows of Marlowe and Richmond we can have 
no true idea of this famous river. A trip 
up or down the Mississippi is a revelation 
to anyone whose ideas of the world's longest 
river have been obtained through descrip- 
tions alone and the traveler to South Amer- 
ica, who finds great, ocean-going steamers 
and full-rigged ships moored in some un- 
heard of river over one hundred miles from 
the sea or finds such a river as the Essequibo 
has a mouth thirty-five miles wide, wonders 
why he never saw even a mention of the 



FAMOUS RIVERS 201 

streams in his school geography. How many 
of us really know anything about the Ama- 
zon? How many people have any concep- 
tion of the character, the size, the life or the 
wonders of this mighty stream? We may by 
chance read a steamship advertisement which 
mentions ships sailing from New York for 
Para and Iquitos, but do we realize that, 
should we take one of these ships and travel 
for ten days across the ocean until we en- 
tered the mouth of the Amazon and reached 
Para, we would then be but half way on 
our journey?. Even after we had sailed for 
several days through the muddy, discolored 
sea which told us we were approaching the 
mouth of the vast river we would never 
know when we entered the stream, for, were 
we in the center, we would still be out of 
sight of land with the exception of islands. 
Indeed, we could sail for several days up the 
Amazon before we realized that we were 
upon a river and not upon the ocean. Then, 
when at last the banks became visible, and 
remembering the pictures in our geogra- 
phies, we searched the foliage for monkeys, 



202 RIVERS AND THEIR MYSTERIES 

boa constrictors, tapirs and jaguars we would 
be sadly disappointed and would probably 
see no forms of animal life save the herons, 
flocks of parrots, pelicans and other water 
fowl. 

We would also find that all our pre- 
conceived ideas of the shores of a tropical 
river were entirely wrong and in place of 
brilliantly-flowered plants, groves of palms 
and masses of bamboo we would see mile 
after mile of dark green, monotonous man- 
grove trees topped by an occasional palm. 
Not until our ship had traveled for many 
days up the river would we find the tropic 
jungles and even then they would appear as 
a solid wall of greenery, a mass of trees 
bound together by vines and creepers and 
with no hints of the teeming life and strange 
things which lay hidden beyond our view, 
for the Amazon is a great water highway and 
the wild things of the jungle give the pass- 
ing boats, the smoke-belching steamships and 
mankind a wide berth. Perchance we might 
take a ship for Manaos, on the Rio Negro, 
and here we would find a tributary of the 



FAMOUS RIVERS 203 

Amazon as large, or even larger, than we 
had imagined the Amazon itself, and yet, this 
is but one of many branches each of which 
is many hundreds of miles in length and 
which, in any other country, would be con- 
sidered immense rivers. In fact, it is not 
so much the enormous length of the Amazon, 
or the stupendous volume of water it car- 
ries, which makes it remarkable, as the vast 
system of waterways which it forms with its 
innumerable tributaries and the tremendous 
area of country which this system drains — an 
area of over 800,000 square miles or a ter- 
ritory over three times the size of Texas, 
one and one-half times the size of Alaska; 
larger than the whole of Mexico, over twice 
the size of Venezuela, sixteen times the size 
of England, four times the size of France, 
nearly four times the size of Germany or 
nearly as great as the whole of Europe with- 
out Russia. Only by such comparisons can 
we obtain any adequate idea of these enor- 
mous rivers and even then our imaginations 
cannot picture them as they really are. Al- 
though our Mississippi is the longest of 



2o 4 RIVERS AND THEIR MYSTERIES 

rivers, still, in comparison with the volume 
of the Amazon, it is only a medium-sized 
stream and yet its importance from a com- 
mercial and industrial point of view is in- 
calculably greater than the Amazon. So, 
too, the Hudson, the Potomac, and many 
other rivers in the United States, while 
smaller than some of the so-called creeks 
which feed the smaller tributaries of the 
Amazon, are of more value and importance 
to the world at large than the mighty South 
American river. On the other hand, the 
Nile, which is one of the largest rivers of 
the world, is of greater importance to Egypt 
than the Amazon to Brazil, for while the 
Brazilians find their Amazon a very useful 
highway, an outlet for a vast territory, and a 
most important factor of their climate and 
their products, the inhabitants of the Nile 
district are absolutely dependent upon the 
river for their very existence. 

But it is in Asia, and especially in China, 
that we find more people really dependent 
upon rivers than in any other lands. Upon 
the Yang-tse Kiang and other Chinese rivers 



FAMOUS RIVERS 205 

countless thousands of people have their 
homes. For generations these people have 
dwelt upon the river in their quaint house 
boats; they are born, live and die upon the 
bosoms of the rivers; mooring their floating 
dwellings to the banks, congregating in vast 
floating cities, moving from place to place 
at will and forming a teeming population 
with no counterpart in all the world. Un- 
fortunate would be the lot of these river 
dwellers if the streams should disappear, for 
they have never known homes or life upon 
the land and overcrowded China would have 
no place for them. We may think it very 
strange for whole families of Chinese to 
thus pass their lifetime on their rivers, but 
right on our own rivers we will find many 
families doing the same, not for a few weeks 
in midsummer for pleasure on luxuriously 
appointed houseboats, but throughout the 
year and from necessity. These people are 
the families of owners and captains of canal 
boats and barges and if we visit the docks 
or the basins about New York City or other 
ports where these straight-sided, bluff-bowed 



2o6 RIVERS AND THEIR MYSTERIES 

boats are moored we will find them by 
scores. Near the sterns of the craft are the 
little cabins, houses in miniature with neatly 
curtained windows in which are boxes and 
pots of growing plants; with the family 
washing drying in the breeze and with the 
smoke from the kitchen fire drifting from 
the stovepipes in the roofs and giving them 
a most homey appearance. In coops or en- 
closures, fowls and chickens cluck content- 
edly, sleek cats doze in the sun beside the 
cabin doorway, sharp-eyed dogs keep vigilant 
watch and the kiddies romp and play upon 
the decks while their tanned and grizzled 
father smokes and reads the paper in a 
shady spot and their sunbonneted mother 
busies herself with the household duties of 
her floating home. To these people life 
ashore has few attractions ; they have neither 
rent nor landlord to worry them, they travel 
far and wide in their slow-moving but safe 
craft, and when in port and moored among 
scores of similar boats they form a neigh- 
borly little community. Indeed, they even 
have schools which the youngsters attend, 



FAMOUS RIVERS 207 

with teachers who visit the boats and instruct 
the children who are born and raised upon 
the water and know no other homes. 

You may think that these people lead 
a humdrum, monotonous life, but there are 
adventure, thrills and danger to spare with 
tragedy as well. The canal boats, to be sure, 
seldom meet with peril or mishap, but on 
the big barges which are towed long dis- 
tances at sea it is a different matter. Often 
in stormy weather, barges will break their 
hawsers and drift away and while the cap- 
tain of the tugboat may use every effort to 
recover and save them it is often an impossi- 
bility, while in other cases, to save the barge 
that breaks loose would mean sacrificing the 
others. Tossed on the waves, drifting at the 
will of wind and sea, the helpless barge and 
its little family are in imminent peril of their 
lives, and every winter we will find terse 
newspaper paragraphs telling of the loss of 
barges with all on board. Few who read 
ever stop to think of the anguish and suffer- 
ing of the little families who go to their 
deaths with their floating homes; of the 



2o8 RIVERS AND THEIR MYSTERIES 

father battling with superhuman strength and 
heroic courage to save his tossing, storm- 
lashed craft and dear ones; of the mother, 
clasping her children to her breast and pray- 
ing that by some miracle they may yet be 
saved; of the kiddies, wild-eyed and terri- 
fied as they see the comforting lights of the 
other barges and the towboat disappearing in 
the black night, and, childlike, trusting to 
their parents to guard them until, half-filled 
with water, strained and battered by the 
waves, pitching and reeling in the trough of 
the great seas, the stout, heavily-laden barge 
sinks lower and lower and with a final, 
gurgling plunge disappears forever, leaving 
the stricken family to struggle hopelessly in 
the icy water until death mercifully ends 
their sufferings. 

But we have drifted far from the Chinese 
rivers and their teeming human life, where 
there are no storms to wreck and destroy and 
the greatest danger to the slant-eyed kiddies 
lies in tumbling overboard into the yellow 
waters of the rivers, from which they are 
usually quickly fished out no worse and per- 



FAMOUS RIVERS 209 

haps a little better off, from a sanitary view- 
point, than before their unexpected bath. 

Then, if we journey to India we will find 
the people regarding their rivers of para- 
mount importance for quite another reason. 
Here countless thousands of people regard 
the rivers as sacred and would suffer death 
or worse rather than be deprived of the re- 
ligious rite of bathing in the waters. From 
far and near they flock to the Ganges, often 
making pilgrimages of hundreds of miles 
to bathe in the sacred stream and there are 
few stranger sights in all the world than the 
bathing ghats at Benares and other Indian 
towns. Here men and women by hundreds 
descend the stairs to wash themselves and to 
drink the water, the condition of which can 
better be imagined than described when we 
think of the teeming hordes, immersing their 
bodies in the slow-flowing stream. Moreover, 
upon the burning ghats on the banks, the 
bodies of scores of dead are being cremated 
and the ashes of these add to the pollution 
of the water. One would think that plague 
and pestilence would result from the custom 



210 RIVERS AND THEIR MYSTERIES 

and that half of the population of India 
would be destroyed through these acts of 
devotion, but there is no data to show that 
those who bathe and drink of the Ganges 
are any the worse for their acts and to pro- 
hibit the ceremonies for sanitary reasons 
would only result in a bloody revolution and 
the most terrible of holy wars. 

We may think that river worship is a 
heathenish sort of religion, but we must re- 
member that it is, or was, almost universal 
among all races. The Romans worshipped 
their Tiber; primitive races everywhere look 
upon the rivers as deities or the abodes of 
spirits, and our own ancestors worshipped 
streams and imagined they were the abiding 
places of fairies, water spirits and other 
supernatural beings who had tremendous 
powers over man. For this reason many 
races are in the habit of making periodical 
offerings to the river gods and with impres- 
sive ceremonies cast valuables, food and 
other articles into the streams, while some 
even made human sacrifices to propitiate the 
spirits or gods of the waters. 



FAMOUS RIVERS 211 

In many parts of the world treasures in 
gold and silver ornaments, statues, jewels and 
objects of art have been taken from rivers 
and lakes wherein they were cast as offerings. 
In various portions of South and Central 
America the Indians for centuries threw 
golden images and ornaments into the rivers 
and lakes they worshipped and fortunes still 
lie hidden beneath the surface of these sacred 
waters, although hundreds of thousands of 
dollars' worth of the golden offerings have 
been recovered. Even today many of the 
South American Indians hold elaborate re- 
ligious ceremonies and after weird and sa- 
cred dances hang their fantastic dancing cos- 
tumes upon snags and stumps in the streams 
in order to appease the spirits of the river 
and to induce them to remain calm and quiet 
so that the Indians may travel with safety 
upon their waters. 

To us, with our knowledge of science and 
our understanding of the forces of nature, all 
this seems very silly and childish, but to the 
simple savage or to semi-civilized man, a 
river is a most mysterious and inexplicable 



212 RIVERS AND THEIR MYSTERIES 

thing with almost human attributes. It mur- 
murs and mutters and whispers, at times it 
is peaceful, calm and quiet, at other times it 
roars and growls with anger and destroys all 
in its path; it can work tremendous harm 
or can be most beneficial and as primitive 
religion consists of adoring good spirits and 
propitiating evil ones the savage, not quite 
sure whether his river gods are good or evil, 
places himself on the safe side by both wor- 
shipping the rivers and bestowing gifts upon 
them. Of course, we scoff at this as super- 
stition, but is it any more foolish or ridicu- 
lous than our own superstititions ; is it not 
just as sensible to think that a golden armlet 
cast into a river will insure a calm and safe 
journey on the stream as to imagine that 
printed playing cards can foresee and divulge 
one's future, that misfortune lurks in number 
thirteen or that breaking a bit of silvered 
glass will result in the death of some one? 
Personally, I think not. There is nothing 
remarkable, mysterious nor inexplicable 
about cards or mirrors, but even civilized 
man is impressed by the power, the majesty 



FAMOUS RIVERS 213 

and the mystery of rivers. Cards and mir- 
rors are our own handiwork; their origin, 
their purposes and their ultimate ends are 
familiar to us all and they have no great 
influence upon our lives, our livelihood or 
our happiness; but the river is a power be- 
yond our control, it possesses the power of 
life and death, it is irresistible, mysterious, 
romantic. It is the handiwork of a Supreme 
Being of whom we know nothing and while 
science has taught us many things, and has 
explained more, about the rivers, yet, behind 
all, are the unsolved, awe-inspiring mysteries 
of the Creator. 



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